IT'S A WHOPPER! 174 pages, so take your time. ON TEST: KTM 790 Adventure R, Triumph Scrambler 1200XE, Fantic Caballero Scrambler 500, Yamaha WR450F plus long term reports on Suzuki V-Strom 650XT, Honda CRF250RX, Husqvarna FE350 and KTM 1290 Adventure R. TRAVEL: California Cruising on Triumph and Indian, across the Americas with PanAmScram. REGULARS: Chris Evans, Craig Keyworth, fitness, products, and much much more!
ISSUE #42
KTM 790
TEST: KTM’s new
Adventure R comes
with added RRRRRRR!
MONSTER INC
TEST: How Yamaha has
tamed their WR450F for
2019
ADV COOL
TEST: Triumph’s
coolest adventure bike
is a heritage model!
Photo: F. Lackner
ENDURO
ANYWHERE
ANYTIME
KTM 690 ENDURO R
Take charge of your ride with the new KTM 690 ENDURO R – now armed
with highly-capable WP XPLOR suspension, ride-enhancing electronics and
aggressive new enduro styling. True to its core, this renowned icon of original
hard enduro offers a dynamic slim feel, delivering superior all-terrain action
wherever and whenever the urge arises.
For more information and to find your local authorised dealer visit www.ktm.com
2
www.rustsports.com
Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations!
The illustrated vehicles may vary in selected details from the production models and some illustrations feature optional equipment available at additional cost.
C ntents
#
FEATURES
134 28
Tested: 2019 KTM 790
Adventure R
Actually this is a wow
moment, this 790 is a
new kind of offering, very
dynamic, but also very
versatile
Tested: Triumph
Scrambler 1200XE
What started out as a
heritage test quickly
became an adventure
ride…
38 62
Tested: Fantic
Caballero Scrambler
500
We loved the 125 and
250, but with a 500 motor
– yeah, way to go!
Tested: Yamaha
WR450F
In an issue full of new
model surprises, here’s
another one. Yamaha
has at last nailed the 450
enduro…
54 140
Trials & Tribulations
Craig Keyworth has a goal
of Dakar 2020. He also
has intermediate goals,
like the 2019 Scottish Six
days Trial. Which is the
greater?
PanAmScram: Ecuador
July Behl continues to
eat (literally) his way
north-south across the
Americas…
152
California
Cruising at its best
www.rustsports.com 3
www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com
Photos: Alessio Barbanti, R. Schedl
IT BELONGS
WHEREVER YOU
CHOOSE TO TAKE IT
With the ability to go the distance on any terrain you choose, the options for
endorphin-inducing experience are endless. A state-of-the-art chassis and distinctive
design ensures that your ride is at home wherever it goes. Set off on limitless exploration
with Husqvarna Motorcycles 701 ENDURO.
For more information and to find your local authorised dealer visit www.husqvarna-motorcycles.com
4
Please make no attempt to imitate the illustrated riding scenes, always wear protective clothing and observe the
applicable provisions of the road traffic regulations! The illustrated vehicles may vary in selected details from the
production models and some illustrations feature optional equipment available at additional cost.
www.rustsports.com
Editorial
How RUST #42 grew
into a monster…
C ntents #
REGULARS
06 08
Gallery
To show there’s no
snobbery in RUST,
we contrast an AMA
SX champ with
adventure ride first
timers
12 48
RUST TRAVELS
Too many bikes, not
enough time – there are
worse problems to have
Good Evans
Our man Chris Evans
looks set for Dakar
2020, while his Fantic
may never roll a wheel
again (altogether now:
boooooooo!)
110 104
Stuff
Featuring TCX boots
and Acerbis X-Seat…
Fitness for vets
Warren delves into
THE taboo subject of
any paddock…
76 86 100 114 134
Long termers
JB’s V-Strom does the Kielder 500; a KTM
1290 Super Adventure R rolls into the garage
and immediately cracks 1400 miles; the
Honda CRF250RX howls around the Brechfa
Rally; while Warren’s Husky FE350 is still
riding in circles somewhere near Lisbon…
www.rustsports.com 5
EDITORIAL
BE CAREFUL WHAT
YOU WISH FOR
Image: Llewellyn Pavey
I
should have known better. In last issue’s
editorial I lamented that I need to ride more.
Now, I could do with riding less! These past
two months have flashed by in a blaze of test
rides. I’m counting seven bikes tested, and
the miles I’ve put in – way over 3000 I should say,
as I’ve been up to the Scottish borders, to Yorkshire
and twice into Wales. Yes, the Suzuki V-Strom 650XT put on over
2000 miles and the new KTM 1290 Super Adventure is sitting on
1400 miles already. That’s before we add the days in the saddles of
the test bikes.
Trying to squeeze all this into this issue, plus other stuff for
balance, has been a major undertaking, maybe too much. Indeed
too much, after this issue you and me are going to have to get
used to editorial content being more evenly spread across the
magazine and the website – that old ‘continual publishing’
concept. I’ll be working hard with the RUST team to strategize
how content gets placed and we’ll probably need to make more
use of mail alerts, so please forgive us, we’re not spamming you,
just trying to ensure you find all our stories.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this issue. Being so big don’t
bust a gut trying to read it all in one go, and don’t leave it to one
side either – just keep coming back to it and reading in bits. It’s
the big-little magazine that just keeps giving.
Is there a standout bike this issue? No! The KTM 790 Adventure
R was every bit as dynamic and inspired as we’ve been led to
believe, if you like your adventure fast and furious this is probably
for you (although it does steady-away just as well). Conversely the
Rally Raid BMW G 310 GS (which we’ve had to publish on to our
website as this issue grew and grew) feels like the most complete
travel bike that a small-bore could ever be – it’s a real wonder and
might help you (as much as it did me) to reset just what you think
an adventure bike should be. There again, the Triumph Scrambler
1200 XE did that for me too – yeah, adventure should look cool
as well be cool. And by heck, did I love screaming the wee Honda
CRF250RX around the Brechfa Rally? And then there’s the Fantic
Caballero Scrambler 500, not to mention Yamaha’s WR450F.
All of them – quality, transformative machines.
I guess there’s a time and place for everything, and we
should appreciate all these different tastes. Hopefully
you’re enjoying your particular favourite flavour of dirt
biking right now, we’re in the riding season after all. So
ride safe and I hope you enjoy the read.
6
www.rustsports.com
www.rustsports.com 7
GALLERY
8
www.rustsports.com
Cooper Webb
AMA SX CHAMP 2019
Congratulations to Cooper Webb on winning the Monster Energy 2019
AMA Supercross title. It would be fair to say he wasn’t expected to win,
names like Tomac, Musquin and Roczen were the early season favourites.
But the 23 year old from North Carolina prevailed. A former two-time
250SX West champ (2015-16), Webb’s step-up into the 450 class had not
been starred. In two seasons on a Yamaha YZ450F he’d placed 13th and
then 9th, with one podium finish in each year. So he came into the Red Bull
KTM team for 2019 very much as the understudy to Marvin Musquin. Only
Webb clicked with the KTM 450SX real quick, found his groove and simply
cleaned house. RUST was there from the beginning; this is Webb at his first
official KTM test session, and check out our interview with him from the
day https://youtu.be/hkjdooXP_HU
Image: JB
www.rustsports.com 9
GALLERY
A RIDE IN
THE WOODS
End of March, RUST took a long ride up to the
Scottish borders to ride the Adventure Spec
Challenge Kielder 500. Yep, nearly 500km on tracks
and trails using a paper road book for navigation.
Some 150 mostly newbie adventurers had an
incredible weekend, even if temperatures dropped
to a nippy -2ºC. The local community benefited
too, the local convenience store and petrol station
reported the equivalent of three months trade in
one afternoon. Needless to say the adventurous
motorcyclists are very welcome to return…
Image: JB
10
www.rustsports.com
Adventure
www.rustsports.com 11
LIFE
RUST TRAVELS
A log of what we’ve been up this past two months (or so…)
JB’s story
If my log from RUST #41
was all about seeing
off the winter, for this
issue it’s been about
one super-hectic Spring
testing season. One after
another, the importers called
offering new test bikes. I
couldn’t turn down not even
one of them, although that’s
meant an ever-growing
snowball of work at this end
of the schedule (and delayed
publishing).
But getting out riding has
been awesome. Within a
week I’d gone from racing
the Honda CRF250RX
through the Welsh forests
to navigating the altogether
larger Suzuki V-Strom
650XT around a Scottish
forest. Two vastly different
experiences, but I loved both.
I like tear-arsing around on
the wee enduro, but I also
like slowing it right down and
appreciating the scenery on
the big adventure.
There again, I have more
conflicting mores when it
comes to having enjoyed
riding two KTM über-
ADVs in their 790 and
1290 Adventure Rs and
then finding equal love
for Triumph’s new 1200
Scrambler XE. For me, all
three make great adventure
bikes and I’d be super happy
touring off-road on all three.
But then Rally Raid Product’s
modified BMW G 310 GS
again proved you don’t need
a big engine for big adventure
– what a cracking tool that is!
Bottom line: it’s all good.
We have an embarrassment of
riches it seems in the dirt bike
and heritage bike market right
now. So choosing your ride is
getting ever harder…
12
www.rustsports.com
Travel
Warren’s story
JB has just asked me to pen 150
words on my last two months
since the previous issue, and
my first thought was – “a
bloody blur!”
A big part of that time has been
in designing a new workshop, and
track, as part of the development here
at Casa Warren (in Portugal). In the
meantime, I have been setting up a
makeshift workshop in the existing
garage. Riding has been a series of
long overdue product tests done over
the course of the very wet three-day
Transalentejo Rally, and putting in
some laps at the local MX track.
I enjoyed a day of racing with my
son at an old school classic motocross
track near my house. Took me back to
the good ol’ days.
Every
other spare
moment
I’ve had I put
into adding the
finishing touches to
my Husky FE350 long-termer. I am
really happy with the bike and the
set-up. The few final adjustments have
really fine-tuned the bike to a point
that I don’t think I have been able to
achieve in my riding career yet, on any
machine. I will be sharing this in the
final feature, ‘In search of the perfect
set-up’ in the next issue.
To finish the month, I am heading
to the launch of the new 2020 KTM
enduro range in Spain. Look out for
blogs and videos from the launch from
May 21.
www.rustsports.com 13
NOW AVAILABLE FROM WWW.RUSTSPORTS.COM
Adventure
16 www.rustsports.com
KTM 790 ADVENTURE R
FIRSTRIDE
KTM 790 ADVENTURE R
Words: JB Images: Two Fast Media
RUST has had its first ride on the KTM 790
Adventure R. KTM UK whizzed a bunch
of journos over to the newly inaugurated
Sweet Lamb KTM Adventure Bike
Experience in Powys, deepest Wales, where
we sampled both the new 6600 acre facility
as well as the new machine.
We’ll have a full report on the 790
Adventure R when we conduct our
full test (road, dirt and rally) in July
– yes, that’s the earliest we could get
a test bike – but for now based on a day riding
off-road in Welsh mountains (2500ft being the
highest) here’s what we’ve learnt about this bike.
w
www.rustsports.com
17
ADVENTURE
w
18
www.rustsports.com
KTM 790 ADVENTURE R
1. IT FEELS RIGHT
By which we mean the ergonomics are just about spot on. It feels like
a regular dirt bike (not a road bike), with a narrow feel through the mid
section (so you’re not riding with feet miles apart), it has the correct natural
positioning for your body when stood, with your head naturally placed
above the headstock, and when you adopt the Chris Birch adapted standing
position (kind of ¾ standing attack) it’s pitch perfect – yet is equally comfy
when sat cruising. The only limitation is when it comes to seated cornering
(off-road) you can’t get as far forward as you would on a regular enduro bike,
so most off-road cornering you’d be better off stood up.
w
www.rustsports.com 19
ADVENTURE
w
KTM 1290 ADVENTURE R
20
www.rustsports.com
KTM 790 ADVENTURE R
2. IT FEELS THE SAME
You’d think this being a parallel twin of approximately 800cc that it would
feel different to all the other KTM adventure bikes. It doesn’t. Like so many
parallel twins these days it adopts an offset crank position to create a veetwin
feel. So jumping from a 1290 onto the 790, while you notice the power
difference (that’s something like from 160hp down to 90hp), the engine
characteristic, the feel, is very similar. We could go further, to say that it
seems with electronic aids and computer engine management a lot of
engines are getting to feel quite similar these days. You can jump from bike
to bike, crack the throttle on a gravel corner and all will give you that same
digitally-manipulated serving of wheelspin (and slide). Which is both useful
(less crashing) if getting to feel slightly homogenised!
w
KTM 790 ADVENTURE R
www.rustsports.com 21
ADVENTURE
w
3. IT’S DYNAMIC
The size, weight, power and proportion of this bike are designed to
work with a more active rider. You don’t stand or sit on this bike, twist
the throttle and let it get on with the job – no, the 790 likes a mobile
rider. On gravel, exiting corners it could be very easy to just crack the
throttle and spin the rear and hand over full control to the computer, but
if you move your weight forward-back, inside-outside the 790 rewards
you with a great feel for rear wheel traction, so rather than shedding
expensive rubber knobblies in the fury of pointlessly spinning wheel,
you can instead shift your hips back and out and feel the traction come
back to you – making for faster, cleaner corner exits. Point being there’s
space on the bike to do all this, you can get right over the front or push
yourself way back (braking hard) and the bike responds. It’s still heavy
by usual dirt bike standards, but not so heavy like a 1250/1290 so the
rider’s weight makes up a greater percentage of the combined mass, and
this means your input has a greater effect. Rally riders will love this, but
recreational riders will benefit, too. It’s about control.
w
22
www.rustsports.com
KTM 790 ADVENTURE R
www.rustsports.com 23
ADVENTURE
w
4. IT’S EASY
If, like us, you saw the video footage from the world launch in Morocco
(all fast riding and big dune jumps) and thought the 790 is all about Billy
Big Balls aping Dakar legends then KTM has sent the wrong message
(or at least not the whole message). The 790 can do this (as you saw) but
equally the 790 is a doddle to ride and very adept at doing slow stuff.
With the options on ride mode, traction control etc you can dial in a
really easy set of responses that are perfectly suited to newish riders,
or riders who like a quiet ride. This bike has enormous potential and
versatility, but it’s up to the rider as to whether he uses its powers for
good (adventure touring) or evil (racing).
w
24 www.rustsports.com
KTM 790 ADVENTURE R
www.rustsports.com 25
ADVENTURE
w
26 www.rustsports.com
KTM 790 ADVENTURE R
5. WE’RE WON OVER
Those blobby bottom-heavy pannier fuel tanks and the beaky
headlight make for a slightly odd look to the bike that can be initially
off-putting. It’s standard Kiska design if you ask us – they always like
to do something a bit edgy, sometimes downright ugly, but at least
provocative/challenging. Once you’ve ridden the bike the looks matter
less, because the fact is the dynamic design and engineering work well
and KTM has created a bike with great energy. Top riders will abuse it,
make it do crazy things, but for regular riders this will make off-road
adventuring that little bit easier, safer and so more enjoyable. So throw
some panniers on it (probably soft ones now – the latest market trend)
and get out there and just enjoy. This bike isn’t about manufacturers’
bragging rights or travel event campsite Top Trumps, it’s for active riders
who are looking for an active bike.
That’s it for now. Full report will follow given a full test!
www.rustsports.com 27
TESTED
28 www.rustsports.com
2019 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE SCRAMBLER 1200XE
SCRAMBLER XE
it’s adventure by another name
We’ve been itching to try Triumph’s new Bonneville
Scrambler 1200s, they just look way too cool, and the XE
with that 250mm of suspension looks way too capable
to be ignored. And now we’ve tried one, an XE complete
with Extreme Inspiration Kit, what do we think? Yeah,
we’ve got so much to tell you!
Words & Images: JB
I’d been out way too long, enjoying myself too
much. Now it had got dark and I was looking
to finish up the last 30 miles of the ride a bit
quicker. Only this being early April the night
was decidedly cool and my Richa Bonneville
jacket was at its limit in terms of insulation while my
old Spidi 77 gloves were a little thin, too. I was feeling
the chill. ‘I could do with heated grips, right now,’ I
thought. You see, this is where adventure bikes score
so well, they have all these gizmos, proper kitchen sink
jobs they are. Five minutes later I looked down and
spotted this discreet wee button on the left handlebar
grip – what? Heated grips! Heck, when did scramblers
get so practical? So I blasted on home, holding a nice
85mph (ahem), now with warmth radiating into my
palms (ahem). The XE just notched up another win.
w
www.rustsports.com 29
TESTED
w
If you’ve read RUST for a while and
seen our test of the Triumph Street
Scrambler 900 (RUST #32) you’ll know
I’m a fan. But I’m also a pragmatist. As
much as I love the Street Scrambler
it is essentially a street bike – the
suspension, being short travel and
quite basic, totally compromises its
off-road pretentions. Cool for the street,
impractical in the dirt. Now Triumph
has a new generation of Scrambler with
the latest super-punchy 1200cc motor
and you can tell just by looking at the
suspension units they’re addressing the
900’s shortcoming. You can see it in the
marketing, too – guys hoofing the bikes
through deserts and all – these new
Bonneville Scramblers are more than
just styling jobs.
A QUICK OVERVIEW
I’m going to deal with the tech quickly.
Partly because (as we often suggest) the
Triumph website says it all and it’s not
difficult to click on that and get all the
detail you need. And partly because I
want to get on and discuss the riding.
So tech: The motor is new generation,
eh? Yep, it’s a full 1200cc eight-valve
SOHC parallel twin with a 270º crank
angle (for character), producing 89
horsepower and a fair 110Nm of torque
(the latter at just 3950rpm). It looks aircooled
– check out the cylinder finning
– but actually it’s water-cooled and
when you ride it slow off-road you’ll
know this as you hear the radiator’s
electric fan cutting in. It’s got a slick
six-speed gearbox and the clutch is
surprisingly cable-operated.
The chassis is unique to these
Scramblers, designed to meet both onand
off-road demands, being traditional
tubular steel with aluminium cradles.
Our test example being the top of the
range XE has 250mm of suspension
travel front and rear, with 47mm Showa
USD forks and twin Öhlins piggyback
shocks. The wheels are very off-road
specific being wire cross-spoke type,
30
www.rustsports.com
2019 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE SCRAMBLER 1200XE
with a 21” front and 17” rear (allowing
tubeless tyres – in this instance Metzeler
Tourance). We like that Triumph haven’t
gone overboard with the width of the
rear hoop, it holds a narrower 150/70
section tyre. With all that suspension
the seat height is a moderately tall
870mm. On the alternative XC model,
which has 200mm of suspension travel,
it’s 840mm. The brakes are a fancy
Brembo monobloc 320mm twin disc
setup (the calipers are radially mounted
– and there’s a fancy brake lever to
go with that, too) with a 255mm rear
disc clamped by a Brembo two-piston
caliper.
Other numbers: the fuel tank is a
slightly disappointing 16-litres (but
that’s the cost of creating such a pretty
w
www.rustsports.com 31
TESTED
w
shape) which given Triumph’s claimed
58mpg average fuel consumption
should see you within a whiff of 200
miles at a go. Meanwhile claimed
weight (dry) is 207kg. That’s actually a
nice number, heavy for a dirt bike of
course, but compared to the 242kg of
the 1200 Tiger Explorer it’s relatively
light.
Then there’s the electronic tech,
with six riding modes (including offroad
pro for the XE only), a fancy TFT
dash, cornering ABS and traction
control, not to mention a whole host
of interconnectivity whether you’re
into music, GoPro film shooting or
want something more practical like a
navigation app. You can geek yourself
out on the electronics for sure.
SO, THE RIDE
I’m glad that’s the tech over with (hope
you found it moderately helpful) – now
the riding. First impressions – it’s a big
ship. The seat is tallish, although at 6’0” I
THE SCRAMBLER MAY
NOT YET BE PERFECTION
BUT TRIUMPH HAS
MADE ONE STUNNING
MOTORCYCLE THAT IS
PURE PLEASURE TO RIDE
could get the balls of my feet down quite
easily – shorter folk might prefer the
XC’s dimensions. And the handlebars
are quite high being set on tallish risers,
wide-ish too, as you’d expect for a
scrambler. They feel a little too straight
on the road, but when stood for offroad
they’re just fine. The seat is a flat
bench type that allows you to move fore
and aft quite easily. Being a trifle thin it
doesn’t bode well for long distances, but
we dare say the aftermarket guys will
come up with a gel type before too long.
As it is, for two-up riding maybe it’s best
32 www.rustsports.com
2019 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE SCRAMBLER 1200XE
to restrict yourself to shorter trips.
But despite being tall and big, it’s not
that big, it’s slim-ish and the absence of
bodywork further reduces its sense of
bulk. And pushing it around with those
wide bars and narrow-ish tyres takes
very little effort – actually surprisingly
little, it almost came to be a perverse
pleasure. And when you ride up the
road you’re struck by how narrow the
bike is around your ankles and how as
you look forward your view is barely
interrupted by the wide bars, modest
dash and bar-mounted mirrors. Very
quickly you’re into the 1960s scrambler
feel, it does actually feel pretty authentic
(having ridden a fair few Brit twins from
the 50s and 60s) while obviously being
at the same time ultra-modern.
With certain adventure bikes
punching ridiculous numbers like
160hp you’d think 89hp might feel a bit
weak. But it doesn’t, the Scrambler has
good torque right off the bottom and so
it launches itself pretty vigorously and
the lack of weight further helps here.
You can hotrod away from the traffic
lights for sure. The clutch is surprisingly
light and the gearbox is slick as you’d
like, so you can roost most traffic –
while of course sitting there looking
super-cool in the laid-back scrambler
riding position.
Handling on the street is more secure
than you might first anticipate, given
the 90/90-21 front tyre, and certainly
I can’t recall any undue anxiety
about swinging through bends and
roundabouts. Likewise with the ABS
backup I wasn’t concerned about
crash-braking either. Combine this
with cornering traction control and the
Scrambler is doing a lot to both keep
you safe and riding virtually carefree.
That’s a nice feeling.
There is of course little in the way of
weather protection and yet it was quite
comfortable cruising up to 90mph
without any need to tuck down out of
the airstream. That might not be the
w
www.rustsports.com
33
TESTED
w
SPECIFICATION
2019 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE
SCRAMBLER 1200 XE
ENGINE: Liquid-cooled 8-valve SOHC
parallel twin four-stroke
DISPLACEMENT: 1200cc
BORE & STROKE: 97.6 x 80.0mm
MAX POWER: 98hp @ 7400rpm
MAX TORQUE: 110Nm @ 3950rpm
FUELING: Multipoint sequential electronic
Fuel injection
STARTER: Electric
TRANSMISSION: Six-speed gearbox, wet
multiplate clutch
FRAME: Tubular steel with aluminium
cradles
FRONT SUSPENSION: 47mm Showa USD
forks, fully adjustable, 250mm travel
REAR SUSPENSION: Öhlins fully adjustable
piggyback shocks, 250mm travel
WHEELS: Tubeless, aluminum rims, crossspoke,
2.15 x 21” front, 4.25 x 17’ rear
BRAKES: Front discs – 320mm, four-piston
Brembo (radially mounted) calipers – Rear
disc 255mm, twin piston caliper, ABS
SEAT HEIGHT: 870mm
WHEELBASE: 1530mm
WEIGHT: 207kg (dry)
FUEL CAPACITY: 16 l
CONTACT: www.triumphmotorcycles.
co.uk/.com
PRICE: UK from £11500 EU €14800 US
$14,000
case on a windy day, but you don’t
buy this kind of bike for high-speed
motorway work.
OFF-ROAD
So here’s the RUST-specific angle – the
off-road performance. Can it do it? Of
course it can. Point being it felt so good,
way better than you could imagine.
Those narrow-ish tyres really help
here. The 21” front rolls easily over the
undulations and over roots and holes
and rides happily along ruts. The rear
being a 150-section doesn’t teeter or
slide unnervingly down off-cambers
nor does it claw up the side of ruts. Both
ends are happy in their work.
And you can ride it in a pretty
dynamic style. Rather than riding the
lowest part of trail as you might on
some big adventure bikes, I found I
could zig-zag quite happily back and
forth, therefore riding across ruts
rather than in them. I’d place the tyres
comfortably into the mini-berms on the
34
www.rustsports.com
2019 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE SCRAMBLER 1200XE
outside of corners almost as you would
on an enduro – it rides like a 200kg dirt
bike, not a 200kg road bike pretending
to be a dirt bike.
And when you stop and select the
off-road pro mode, the power delivery
is just sweetness. In fact I liked riding
the Scrambler in this mode pretty much
everywhere (including the street) as
it feels quite unfettered. There’s no
traction control and no ABS and it
allowed skids and wheelies – proper
wheelies without the front crashing
down suddenly the way the traction
control will create in the road modes.
That’s childish behavior, but in the
privacy of your own empty lane what’s
the harm? And popping the odd wheelie
is what Scrambling is all about, wouldn’t
you say?
Now then, it’s not all good. My first
bug-bear – the high pipes. They look
lovely, and these being kit Arrow
brushed-aluminium units they sound
lovely too, but they do push your right
calf away from the bike – meaning you
have to ride slightly bow-legged on
the right side. Now this seems to be a
lot less pronounced than on the Street
Scrambler 900, but it’s still there and it
means you have only half the purchase
on the right foot peg than you would
otherwise have. And riding like this isn’t
long hours sustainable. You could get
around this, to some extent, by fitting
wider rally pegs, and if this bike were
ours, yes we’d do that.
Second disappointment – the
suspension. I love the long travel, I love
the look and the tech – but these units
on this test just felt too firm. Maybe
the springs were too stiff or it’s the
damping that’s too restrictive. Maybe
they’re setup to keep you safe at 80mph
in the desert – to take the big hits – but
doing 20mph in Kent’s green lanes,
which admittedly were surprisingly
hard packed for this time of year, it was
a jarring ride. I was looking for a little
more plushness. Again, if this were
our bike we’d be getting a specialist to
respring/revalve both ends to sort that.
w
www.rustsports.com 35
TESTED
w
THE ADVENTURE
Now those two misfires have not put us
off this bike. Not for a minute. You see,
not only is this bike as good as being
our all-time ultimate Scrambler – it
runs the BMW RnineT Scrambler right
to the wire (only the BMW’s sublime
air-oil-cooled motor saves it from being
roundly beaten) – it’s also quite possibly
our choice of ultimate adventure bike as
well!
NOT ONLY IS THIS BIKE AS GOOD AS BEING OUR ALL-
TIME ULTIMATE SCRAMBLER IT’S ALSO QUITE POSSIBLY
OUR CHOICE OF ULTIMATE ADVENTURE BIKE AS WELL!
To explain. We love adventure bikes
here at RUST, next to riding our enduros
adventure is our passion. But the arms
race in the adventure sector has led
to massive skew in the market. For
no good reason it seems adventure
bikes now need to also be motocross
proficient while possessing the power
output of a factory world superbike of
just a handful of seasons past. Selling
on Top Trump bragging rights has
pushed the latest adventure bikes into
realms that have absolutely nothing to
do with a casual sight seeing tour of
Sierra Leone.
Back in the 1970s Ted Simon, on his
Police-issue Triumph T100 clearly
chose not bother Roger De Coster
around Namur while on his way across
Europe heading to the Middle East,
neither did he check in with Greg
Hansford at Mount Panorama while
making a tour of Australia’s East Coast.
He just bumped along meeting all
manner of people (and bedding the
odd one too…!) and generally finding
wonder in the world. No feet-up broadsliding,
no 25’ table-top jumps, no
150mph motorway blasts. Yep, it seems
adventure bikes have lost sight of their
humble origins and so when you rock
36
www.rustsports.com
2019 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE SCRAMBLER 1200XE
up on an adventure bike these days
you’re more likely to be making a fair
impression of the Millennium Falcon, in
search of Stormtroopers to waste, rather
than being the polite respectful visitor.
So this Scrambler, in being pretty
off-road capable, now comes closer
to being a real adventure bike than
adventure bikes themselves. Without
the acres of plastic that modern
adventure bikes have, it is (again
to quote Mr Simon) seemingly ‘to
a human scale’. And without all the
gizmos (although it harbours a fair few)
and without the screen and fairing
between the rider and the environment,
it connects the rider better with the
world. And where adventure bikes
have become attitude to the point of
try-hard, the casual laid-back cool of
the Scrambler 1200 translates so much
better to the adventure ethos. And here’s
a challenge for you – check out the XC
model with the Escape Inspiration Kit
and tell us you don’t feel an urge to go
discovering?
BOTTOM LINE
Bottom line? Triumph has nailed it. The
Scrambler may not yet be perfection but
they’ve made one stunning motorcycle
that is pure pleasure to ride and creates
that urge to just ride. This bike speaks
to you, it looks so right too, so cool, you
can’t resist wanting it. And yes, we want
it!
www.rustsports.com 37
HERITAGE
38 www.rustsports.com
FANTIC CABALLERO SCRAMBLER 500
SALUTA I
CINQUECENTO!
Hey, it took a while getting here, but it’s here now ready for the summer of
2019 – and it turns out the biggest Caballero Scrambler is one sweet ride…
Words & images: JB
We’ve waited a while for this
model, it’s taken longer
than expected to get here
as Fantic have worked
overtime to get it super-refined, but the
wait was worth it, the Fantic Caballero
Scrambler 500 truly impresses. It’s one
sweet ride. If you’ve read our report on
the 125 and 250cc Scramblers (RUST
#39) you’ll know these are exquisitely
detailed, sweet handling heritagescrambler
styled road bikes. But with
the 500 motor installed – we’re talking a
whole new level.
EAST WORKING WITH THE WEST
Given our previous test of these
Caballero Scramblers, there’s just the
one aspect to update ourselves on – the
bigger motor. The motor comes from
Chinese manufacturer Zongshen (as
does the 250) and it’s a 449cc SOHC
unit, and pretty techy given it’s liquidcooled
and fuel injected, not to mention
cat-equipped (so meeting Euro4
regulations) with a six-speed box in
the transmission. And while it’s built
in China, the Italian Fantic squad have
been through it with a fine-tooth comb
speccing the cams they want, refining
the ECU and FI etc. So it’s not just an
arbitrary engine drop-in situation.
In fact, the first round of engine
refinement was masterminded by
British firm Ricardo Engineering (who,
among others, have helped McLaren
with the tune on their road supercars),
while Italian experts Athena worked
on the ECU and FI and another Italian
firm Arrow designed the cool exhaust
system. Fantic themselves took over
final stages of development to create the
best, smoothest, engine tune possible.
So Chinese made – like so much of our
tech these days (so don’t get sniffy) –
but with heaps of European R&D.
The chassis we pretty much already
know about, but check out RUST #39
for the full rundown.
A PERFECT BALANCE
Here’s the thing, this 500 (as said,
actually a true 449cc) motor is
something of a peach. There’s a sense of
balance and refinement that shouldn’t
be a surprise, but is. Maybe because
we’ve grown used to riding 650s and
690s, we’re anticipating slightly lumpy
torque-laden acceleration. But being
smaller, with less reciprocating mass
– and even that smoothed by way of a
counter balancer – the power comes
in a little more linear with a sweeter
smoother build. It doesn’t stumble at
low revs either, and you can ride it
right down to near tickover without
the chain-slapping chugga-chugga
that bigger singles often deliver. So w
www.rustsports.com
39
HERITAGE
40
www.rustsports.com
FANTIC CABALLERO SCRAMBLER 500
w
you don’t need to ride at a minimum
3500rpm all the time, riding smoothly
at least 1000rpm lower means you can
ride through town just that little more
chilled.
And the bottom-to-mid is impressive.
Clean pick up and decent acceleration
are there and these combined with a
slick shifting well-spaced six-speed
gearbox mean you make easy and
nimble progress. And again, for a single
it feels smooth. The surprise is there’s
actually something of a screaming
top end that goes with that. Often
you have a choice – good low-end
torque or top end rev – to have both
is quite rare. When you anaylse the
specs you can see what we essentially
have here is the equivalent of a 450cc
enduro bike engine, at 40hp it’s what
a CRF450L makes Stateside and pretty
close to what European enduros are
making, so on the cam the sound of
the Scrambler 500 is unsurprisingly not
unlike a competition-tuned 450 enduro.
So instead of short shifting at around
5500rpm, you can hang on to the
throttle and hold out for peak power at
7500rpm. It’s pretty sporty and sounds
even more so on the over-run as the
exhausts spit and pop as the revs come
down.
Now I read the odometer on the
test bike more than a little wrong
(which is forgivable given the whole
instrument console is a bit titchy)
thinking it said 1480 miles when in
fact the total mileage at time of testing
was just 148 miles. So wringing out
the poor Scrambler through the gears
was probably not the go, but is what
happened. And consequently while
w
www.rustsports.com 41
HERITAGE
42
www.rustsports.com
FANTIC CABALLERO SCRAMBLER 500
it didn’t feel as tight as it might, it did
struggle to rev-out in top, so while
fifth gear reached 80mph, sixth kind
of plateaued at 90mph. At the time,
not knowing the real mileage it felt
to me like it was over geared, but
perhaps it was just too new, with more
(considerate) miles on the clock it will
loosen up and could probably make
100mph, not that outright velocity is
what this bike is about. It was riding
nice and stable at these speeds, mind.
A PROPER LIGHT SABRE
Now the 500 motor comes with
something of a weight penalty, all
that extra metal shifts the Scrambler
up from 140kg as a 250, to 150kg as
a 500 (claimed dry weights there).
Back to back you might well notice
this difference, but the only feedback
I got was one of lightness and quick
handling. The combination of a 19”
front and 17” rear, with Pirelli Scorpion
Rally STR tyres, is a fine, quality choice,
while Fantic’s 41mm USD forks and
monoshock rear, while slightly firm
(again this can be down to being brand
new and not bedded-in), make for
quick but predictable steering. And you
have to appreciate the quality that’s
thrown into this chassis, check-out the
CNC milled fork yokes, engine plates
and the handsome chro-moly frame.
Likewise the Byre brakes (being a
w
www.rustsports.com 43
HERITAGE
FANTIC CABALLERO SCRAMBLER 500
SPECIFICATION
w
subsidiary of Brembo) worked well and
given the short wheelbase actually best
performance was obtained by using
both front and back in equal measure
thereby better balancing the bike.
Some people might be inclined to ride
the Scrambler off-road – after all it’s in
the name. But really this feels to be a
street scrambler at heart. I’m not sure
the suspension set-up will suit either,
and being a relatively short bike it’s not
best balanced for standing work, and
in any case standing is compromised
by the bulging exhaust mufflers under
your right calf. Sat down cruising gently
along hard pack trails or gravel, I can
see that, but for rutty green lanes there
are better options. There’s a Rally model
coming soon, with a full 200mm of
suspension – that’s more likely to be the
off-roading / adventure choice.
TOP WORK
In all, we’ve got to give Fantic a big
thumbs up for the Caballero Scrambler
500. We liked the smaller versions,
but the 500 is for us the real deal, the
engine performance marries perfectly
with the chassis and it delivers exactly
what it promises. The styling is
exquisite and the engine is really well
tuned. It ducks under the 47hp EU A2
motorcycle power limit, too, so this
further enhances its attraction. Yeah, an
excellent job. Oh, and fun to ride!
FANTIC CABALLERO/FLAT TRACK
ENGINE: water-cooled single-cylinder
SOHC four-valve four-stroke
CAPACITY: 449cc
CLAIMED POWER: 40hp at 7500rpm
CLAIMED TORQUE: 43Nm at 6000rpm
FUELLING: Electronic fuel injection
Athena GET 40mm throttle body
GEARBOX: Six-speed, wet multi-plate
clutch
FRAME: CroMo steel tube cradle
FRONT SUSPENSION: 41mm USD
forks, 150mm travel
REAR SUSPENSION: Single shock,
progressive link, 150mm travel
WHEELS/TYRES: 110/80-19, 140/80-17
Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR
BRAKES: front: 320mm disc, twinpiston
caliper, rear: 230mm disc single
piston caliper
WHEELBASE: 1425mm
SEAT HEIGHT: 820mm
FUEL CAPACITY: 12 litres
CLAIMED WEIGHT: 150kg
PRICE: Caballero/Flat Track 500
UK £6399
44
www.rustsports.com
NEW FOR 2019
RALLY 500
• Single cylinder 450cc twin cam motor
• Arrow stainless exhaust as standard
• Headlamp guard & number board
• Lightweight aluminium swing arm
• Sump guard & radiator guard
• 2 way adjustable suspension
• Progressive link suspension
• Disengageable ABS
• CNC triple clamps
• Bybre brakes
THE STREET
SCRAMBLER
• Choose your power 125, 250 or 500
• Arrow stainless exhaust as standard
• Progressive link suspension
• Disengageable ABS
• CNC triple clamps
• Bybre brakes
• Lowering kits now available
• 125 variants L plate legal
See full model range and find dealers at:
fanticmotoruk.com
Classic style doesn't
end with the bike
Check out Bell Helmet's
Classic Collection
A select range of Bell Helmets is now available through
RUST at www.bell-motorcycle-helmets.co.uk
*RUST subscribers get member discounts
tRAIL
A DESTINY
WITH DAKAR?
No sooner was our man Chris Evans out of Dakar than he could
very well be back in again. And, as he said in his last column,
heading for the Middle East (we’ll miss South America…).
Meanwhile, in more relatable news, he’s been sorting the
restoration of his old Fantic 200 (just to make JB jealous)
Words: Chris Evans
So much has happened since
I last wrote that I could easily
fill up a column and a half,
but editorial redlines won’t
stand for that, so I’ll try and keep it as
compact as possible…
DAKAR WITH DAVID, PERHAPS?
The first bit of exciting news was the
announcement that David Castera has
been made boss of the Dakar. ‘David
who?’ some of you might be asking.
Well he was the last man to ever win
the daddy of all extreme enduros, the
Gilles Lalay Classic, narrowly beating
a young Cyril Despres. He then went
on to create a race in the south west
of France called the Shark Xtreme and
very kindly loaned me large chunks of
it for my Pyrenees route. Following on
from there he was appointed sporting
director of the Dakar, something I
had a small hand in, before leaving to
become Cyril Despres’ Peugeot codriver,
something I had a small hand
in. When Peugeot pulled the plug on
their Dakar programme he bought the
Rallye du Maroc and I went to work for
him, knowing that in the process that
it would mean being sacked from the
Dakar. And now he’s back as the boss,
meaning that little old me might well
48 www.rustsports.com
Chris Evans
be back in the Dakar fold.
The second bit of breaking Dakar
news was the announcement that
the Dakar would be moving to Saudi
Arabia – something I suggested might
happen in my last column. This has
inevitably met with mixed reactions
among Dakar regulars and a whole
load of followers on social media. And
it is easy to understand the polemic.
I mean, it isn’t a country universally
approved of in the West. It again
means another ‘one country’ Dakar (at
least in the short term) and for many
it isn’t a dream destination. On the
other hand it does have a lot of desert,
about four times the size of France,
and a lot of that is sand dune, which
is obviously the holy grail of rallyraid
terrain. From a purely personal
point of view it will be interesting to
discover a new country and culture.
I found working on the Silkway Rally
(something I will be doing again this
summer) fascinating. Going from
Russia through Mongolia to China was
an amazing experience and this year
there’s the added bonus of motorcycles
competing on the event for the first
time.
w
www.rustsports.com
49
tRAIL
w
John Hall with Chris’ tool
collection in its entirety
50
www.rustsports.com
Chris Evans
“SINCE I’D CRITICISED
MR BENTMAN IN VIRTUAL
PRINT FOR SLINGING
HIS HONDA TRIALS BIKE
TOGETHER WITH SCANT
REGARD FOR AESTHETICS
MY FANTIC RESTORATION
OBVIOUSLY NEEDS TO LOOK
A MILLION DOLLARS”
SHOW PONY
Away from exotic locations to the
more prosaic setting of a garage in
Maidstone, the other thing that has
got me very excited these last few
months has been restoring my 1982
Fantic 200. For family reasons I knew
I was going to have to spend quite a
bit of time in the UK at the beginning
of the year and needed something to
keep me entertained. So I slung the
Fantic, which hasn’t turned a wheel
in the over 20 years, into the back
of the van and dropped it off at the
home of 10 times British sidecar trials
vice champion John Hall. Mr Hall,
as I call him, and myself go back an
awful long way. He was a mechanic
for numerous British Dakar riders and
for many years provided assistance
on Sport Adventure’s trips. Without
wishing to sound over-sentimental he
is someone I have enormous respect
and affection for. The only problem
is that we have widely differing views
about virtually everything, so we can’t
actually sit down and have a cup of tea
and a chat. The only way we can really
enjoy each other’s company is if we are
w
www.rustsports.com 51
tRAIL
w
RIGHT Looking spiffily like new, JB not
impressed BELOW: Presumably the extra
length on the header pipe denotes ‘works’
spec (tape measure reads in metric and
imperial to help our American readers)
doing something together. The Fantic
therefore was the perfect pretext. Did I
mention he is an excellent mechanic?
The first thing Mr Hall asked me
once we’d got the bike out of the van
and into his garage was, ‘what do
you want it to be, a reliable runner or
a show-pony?’ This wasn’t actually
a question I’d asked myself. I mean
obviously it needs to run, but since
I’d criticised Mr Bentman in virtual
print for slinging his Honda trials
bike together with scant regard for
aesthetics it obviously needs to look a
million dollars as well. Plus, as Mr Hall
pointed out, it won’t be nearly as nice
to ride as my reliable-runner Montesa
315.
So we were already erring to the
side of show pony when a few photos
I posted on a Fantic restoration
Facebook page elicited a certain
amount of excitement. Apparently
the top mounts on the rear shocks
are ‘factory’, as is my exhaust pipe –
which would explain why it was such
a bastard to get off. Current opinion
is either it’s a factory bike, a bike
modified to factory spec by the UK
importers or a privateer bike modified
by someone using factory specs. I have
a hunch the latter is probably the most
likely scenario but whatever the case
might be it has clearly pushed us in the
show pony direction.
A direction very much aided and
abetted by Mr Hall’s incredible network
of blokes in sheds spread across the
south of England providing the most
amazing services. There’s a chap
near Virginia Water doing the most
incredible things with a vapour blaster
who can ceramic coat things at very
reasonable prices. There’s someone
in the South West (confusingly called
Bradford Ignitions) who can rewind
your stator, there’s a shop in Surrey
52
www.rustsports.com
Chris Evans
ROAD BOOK ENDURO TOURS
IN FRANCE DATES FOR 2019
12/13/14 June Lozerien Bis
19/20/21 June Cantal
4/5/6 Sept Cantal
23/24/25 Oct Massif du Morvan
6/7/8 Nov Dordogne
20/21/22 Nov Normandie
called In Motion Twinshock Trials
(actually a very large and well laid out
shed) where you can buy virtually
everything you need to restore a Fantic
200 off the shelf and finally there’s
Eurocarb, the other side of Reading
who will look at your Dellorto, tell
you what needs replacing and then
it sell it to you. Not only were all of
these people friendly, knowledgeable
and helpful they were also in no
way ripping you off. The only bad
experience I have had to date is with a
company that zinc plated all the bolts
in a very haphazard fashion. Zincplater
apart it’s been a thoroughly
enjoyable experience, Mr Hall and I
have barely touched on politics and
we’ve got the engine back in the frame.
The bike doesn’t actually run yet and
there’s still at least three more days
work left to go but I think its going to
look absolutely beautiful at home in my
bedroom. I might even ride it up and
down the road a couple of times before
I push it up the stairs.
www.rustsports.com
$
All trips are priced at £560 (payable to ABTA bonded and ATOL
protected UK travel agency S&N Pickford). Price includes 3
days riding, 2 nights half-board accommodation, loan of road
book and road book reader, support vehicle and driver, an
opener and sweeper and a classy T-shirt. Please don't hesitate
to contact us if you would like any further information.
Chris Evans, Sport Adventure
Tel: 0033 662 487190
chris.evans@sport-adventure.com
www.sport-adventure.com
ally
w
54 www.rustsports.com
DAKAR
Craig’s Dare
to Dakar
As seen in RUST #41, our man Craig Keyworth is set on competing in Dakar 2020.
Having finished in the Rallye du Maroc in 2018, this year he’s set a few challenges to
get himself match-fit for this next Dakar. That’s meant events including Merzouga
(a Dakar qualifier), the Scottish Six Days Trial and Romaniacs! Here we catch up with
Craig on his return from Merzouga and prior to setting off the SSDT…
Interview: Craig Keyworth Images: JB & CK
www.rustsports.com
55
ally
w
Part Two: SSDT!?
The SSDT - ‘The Scottish’ was
first run in 1909, and has been
running ever since (with
breaks for the two world wars).
It is a world-class event, one of a kind
and the equivalent of the TT Races
for the trials scene. The trials world
championship is where you’ll find the
white-hot heat of the elite going feet-up
head-to-head (or should that be toe-totoe?),
like MotoGP, but the enormity of
the natural rock sections of the Scottish
and the sheer length – six long days –
makes it the most unique and seriously
intimidating ‘natural’ challenge.
It registered on my radar as in
preparation for my Dakar in 2020 I’d
drawn up a quick mental list of events
that would give me the best bike time,
be multi day events requiring stamina,
solid bike prep and take me out of my
comfort zone. Aside from the requisite
qualification rallies there were a good
few other contenders, of which the
SSDT is naturally one.
A WOBBLER
Now I’ve wobbled around
Lincolnshire on the trials bike for a
few years, I’m not a bad trials rider,
but I’m by no means a great one.
Dougie Lampkin need not worry
about his Belstaff sponsorship. Mid
level clubman rider is probably being
modest on a good day, and generous
on a bad day. I do have fun on a
trials bike though, and, I’m afraid
to say, this isn’t always a popular
approach in many of the clubs I’ve
ridden with. So I tend to be the lad
who’s making the most derogatory
comments at the expense of myself
and the small group I’m riding with,
plus sometimes anyone who seems
a bit too grumpy – this is commonly
referred to as ‘taking the piss’. A lot
like my school reports – if I were to
concentrate a bit more I’d get much
better scores. It’s much more fun
among the jokers at the back though,
eh!? This is playtime after all.
56
www.rustsports.com
DAKAR
A lot like my school
reports – if I were
to concentrate a bit
more I’d get much
better scores
Whilst sat on the now slightly famous
‘open plan’ workshop toilet, I stuck a
ballot entry in for the Scottish, as well as
convincing a couple of mates to do the
same. Safe in the knowledge that you
never get in on the first attempt... One
of those old trials misgivings it seems. A
few weeks later, and I’m in. But none of
my mates are. Oh...
As ever, I turned to Google: “How
good a trials rider do you need to be to
complete the SSDT?” I should probably
have checked this before, but the
answer I was looking for was there. “In
theory a decent clubman level rider
should be able to get round, but...”
Perfect. No need to search anymore...
What’s (maybe) interesting about the
events and push bike races I’ve done
in the past is that as well as racing in
the UK I just went over to the Alps and
did some events I fancied there - some
rounds of the Grundig DH World Series
for example, then came home when I
ran out of cash or needed to go back to
college. I was 17/18 and just got up and
went on my own; I’m not sure I asked
if I was ‘allowed’ (I was living at home
with my parents).
It was about the adventure, the
unknown wrapped up into the circus
that is racing. Whole transient towns
w
www.rustsports.com 57
ally
w
springing up in the middle of sleepy
mountain villages, shiny kit, vans and
trucks with the back drop of beautifully
unforgiving mountains. Super cool
dudes stood shoulder to shoulder with
wizened mountain men in the little
Alpine bars drinking Aperol Spritz
in their off season from being ski
instructors. I’d found myself. The beauty
of this is that the circus is exactly that –
moving. Every time a slightly different
venue, region or challenge. The
problem of course is that you’re then
forever chasing those early adventures.
Getting back to the Scottish; I’d
watched the Ross Noble SSDT TV
program from last year and hats off
to Ross – he finished, even with the
pressures of tours, his day job and his
first entry, he got round and finished the
week. There are a lot more detractors
that don’t get off their backsides and
will sneer at people, than there are folk
who’ve finished a Scottish, so well done
Ross.
My plan, which isn’t complex, is to
crash through the week taking as few
fives as possible. I’ll be the happiest rider
if I’m getting cleans, I’m sure. If I can
clean one section a day I’ll be made up.
Dougie last year ran totally clean up
right up until the last day, where he put
one foot down. One dab in a whole six
days. Amazing.
WAYNE’S WORLD
Victory favours the prepared, and I
needed all the help I could get, so in
preparation catch up I picked up the
phone and burdened some proper
talent. Wayne Braybrook (trials and
extreme enduro rider of some note)
has supported my rally efforts to date,
and was pretty solid with advice and
motivation at various points. I’ve done
some enduro training days with him
and I love his approach. I’d mentioned
I was doing the Scottish and he’d made
the mistake of offering to help me out
with a few pointers, so I managed to
grow this into a day with him at Pateley
Bridge, North Yorkshire. Lincolnshire
is not renowned for rocky riverbeds.
Nearly all of my trials have been ridden
in Lincolnshire...
So two days after my return from
Merzouga Rally 2019 I was in a
borrowed van heading North up the
58
www.rustsports.com
DAKAR
Wayne just asked
rather matter of
factly, “Are you
planning on riding
on THIS?”
A1(M). As the beggar here, I was tied by
Wayne’s other RAW Academy bookings
and his enduro series schedule. I’d gone
as far as starting an otherwise dirty and
dusty trials bike, given the tyres a quick
squeeze and thrown it into the back of
the works van.
Tired, fatigued and I’d got a bit of a
sore shoulder/upper arm after a little
crash in the desert, plus all of the other
standard excuses too. I’d spent about
50 hours of the previous week riding a
rally prepped 450 enduro bike through
huge sand dunes. Then driven home.
I pushed a bit here and there and just
missed out on my target of a podium
in enduro class, coming home 4th and
28th overall. Respectable. Tiring. Not
trials.
I was typically late to arrive and
Wayne was up and out, waiting in
what is a pretty stunning location up
by Gouthwaite Reservoir. Not far from
where, many moons ago, I’d raced my
w
www.rustsports.com 59
ally
w
downhill bike in what was then the
NEMBA DH series. Long time ago that!
I apologised for being late and quickly
got into my kit. JB was there with an
array of cameras and some youthful
enthusiasm, having ridden up from
RUST HQ that morning (only a near sixhour
ride on his Suzuki V-Strom XT).
I was given exactly 30 seconds to
compose myself before I was riding up
a rocky river bed, being filmed by JB
and watched eagle eyed by WB. I know
I’m wobbly. Did I mention I’ve got a
poorly shoulder?
DO IT AGAIN.
AND AGAIN.
WB: “One more time Craig, but try and
relax, you’re riding like a novice....
“Right, I can work with this.”
I knew I was gripping the bike
unnecessarily. I knew I was tense and
I knew it looked terrible which made it
even more frustrating.
Wayne watched me pick a line and
ride it a few different ways, and then
we’d walk through it. We dissected every
rock and turn, why I should change
an approach, how I should look to
minimise risk and where the grip is. I’d
have another go. I was slowly heading
back into trials mode. Almost.
Wayne was keen to get me working.
We stepped it up a notch. He was
keen to see me get the bike wedged
in some big rocks, not just for his
amusement, but so I’d a taste of the
physical demands of wrestling a trials
bike from the grip of the kind of mess I’ll
inevitably spend a good amount of time
in during the week of the Scottish. I was
looking for footpeg catchers, looking
for safe grip on rocks I’d instinctively
just try and launch over, and probably
fail, or come into the next rock too fast
and offline. Most importantly, I was
looking to get the bike to work when
getting out of a section, rather than
my skinny cycling arms doing all the
work. I’m a pretty diligent student and
was obligingly getting the bike wedged
firmly pretty much every time I tried to
get up the difficult section. I verified,
between heavy breaths, that I was
SUPPOSED to be getting stuck – and
Wayne was polite enough to confirm...
Wayne had never seen me ride a
trials bike, and has a good few (many!)
Scottish rides under his belt (with a topthree
result I understand). He confirmed
I was not wasting my money and was
keen to point out that he was trying to
compress a recommended three years
of prep into one session!
PUNISH YOURSELF
There’s a more ‘normal’ route to a
successful completion and it seemingly
doesn’t usually start on the toilet when
you’re looking to punish yourself
(hmm, maybe that doesn’t sound right).
Yes, this sounds worse than it is! The
60
www.rustsports.com
DAKAR
philosophy and approach obviously
differ to your average local club trial,
with the sections much longer, plus the
‘non stop’ rule – you must continue to
move forward at all times. A real shame
as I’m great at ‘track stands’ and could
stay in one spot almost indefinitely,
also at roll backs, which aren’t allowed
anywhere! Both of my signature moves
are useless to me.
We discussed my bike, how its
shabby appearance and lack of any
maintenance, routine or otherwise,
might need a look into. Actually, after
pumping up the tyres (apparently you
CAN have too little air in a trial tyre)
Wayne just asked rather matter of factly,
“Are you planning on riding on THIS?”
Well, no actually. Seemingly one
of the biggest pitfalls to the average
clubman, after poor fitness and bike
prep, is the administration of getting
around. These are big days on a bike
in trials terms, and the clock is always
ticking. For me it’s a sort of busman’s
holiday, but I’m advised by a number of
finishers that I must push on and not
fall into the trap of thinking I’m actually
on holiday.
With this in mind I’m back into an
area I really am pro at - convincing
myself to buy a new bike. I’ve only ever
ridden my Gas Gas two-strokes in trials,
so we decided that I should buy a new
one (that’s me, my inner self and what
I take to be encouragement from the
assembled crowd of self confessed bike
perverts). There were however none
available. Anywhere. So in a fortuitous
turn of events – as they’re renowned
for being perfect for being able to ‘make
pace’ on the open going (the bit I’ll
probably do OK at) – I found a new and
rather pretty looking Honda Montesa 4rt
in Repsol colours. You can never have
too many bikes…
NEXT TIME
Who knows? We’ll see how Craig gets on at
the Scottish (do also check in on our blogs
on the website). Maybe also Craig will have
news on his chosen machine for the Dakar.
And then there’s the small matter of riding the
Romaniacs. It’s all happening a bit fast…
w
www.rustsports.com 61
ENDURO
meet the new
KING OF SMOOTH
2019 YAMAHA WR450F
Yamaha’s mighty WR450F has been that, mighty – like high and mighty
– almost since its inception. Great for experts, only not so good for
clubmen. But their 2019 WR450F could very well change all that…
Words & Images: JB
ometimes you just need to stop, take a moment to really
observe. At first glance the 2019 Yamaha WR450F looks like a
modest development of the 2018 model (which was in effect
the third year of production of the reverse-cylinder WR that
debuted for the 2016 model year). But if you really stop, take a
look and – as importantly – sift through the details in the spec
sheet, then you’ll see this is pretty much an all-new model.
Yamaha hasn’t given any definitive details on this (percentages
and all) but so much has changed. It looks similar but that’s a new
engine, a new chassis. And so when you get to ride it – yes, a lot has
indeed changed. In WR history this is a significant milestone. w
62 www.rustsports.com
2019 Yamaha WR450F
www.rustsports.com
63
ENDURO
w
Of course what’s confusing us here
is the lack of product launch – we’re
used to manufacturers singing from
the highest towers, flooding social
media with teasers, doing a little razzle
dazzle – getting us all excited. Instead,
on this occasion, we’ve come – alone –
to a farmyard in a very wet and wintry
Wales, wheeled out a solitary example
– don’t frighten the cows – and got
on with it! So without the preamble,
without the build up, the story here
really does come as something of a
surprise.
Yep, within yards we could already
tell here was something special. Within
ten minutes we were pretty much sold.
If we weren’t such paupers we’d be
asking: How much? Where do we sign?
Yamaha has made a new WR450F that,
while not quite night and day different
to the last version, is so far removed as
to be a very different animal. The ‘old’
WR we personified as being a touch
brutal, even Yamaha called it “not for the
inexperienced”. Great for rally we said,
but for big guys only when it comes to
“IN MORE THAN ONE WAY
THE WR450F IS DEFINITELY
SPECTACULAR; SPECTACULAR
ENOUGH TO CAUSE A FEW
CONCERNS WITH CERTAIN
COMPETITORS”
64
www.rustsports.com
2019 Yamaha WR450F
enduro (talking in a European / woods
context). This new one – well, it’s got
its enduro mojo back. And more than
that, in more than one way it’s definitely
spectacular; spectacular enough to
cause a few concerns with certain
competitors we’re sure…
WHAT’S NEW?
The motor is new. Same concept as
before, being a reverse cylinder set
up, but so many details have changed.
Essentially it’s the new motor that went
into the 2018 YZ450F, now modified
for off-road. That new motor featured
an all-new, lighter cylinder head, with
new cam profiles. Down below there’s a
new crank, the piston now features boxbridge
structure while the gudgeon pin
has been DLC coated. The gearbox has
been fettled with wider surface areas on
w
www.rustsports.com 65
enduro
w
66
www.rustsports.com
2019 Yamaha WR450F
the cogs and dogs, the clutch plates are
updated and there’s a stiffer outer plate.
Significantly the Keihin fuel injection
has been replaced by a Mikuni setup.
The radiators are bigger (but slimmer)
and even the exhaust has been made
shorter for better mass centralization.
And, good news here, the Power Tuner
gadget has been pensioned off, now
you can alter the WR’s tune by using a
phone App, a pretty fancy one too with
neat graphics. By the way, we note the
kick-start has now gone – some weight
saving there!
The chassis is new, too. Again, it
looks like the last one, still being a
bilateral beam frame, but the details
are much changed, with more bracing
in the upper frame for more rigidity,
redesigned rear frame spars and
the engine mounts have moved, so
the engine sits a little more upright.
There’s even what Yamaha call ‘a larger
absorption zone’ (whatever that is?).
Meanwhile that off-road necessity,
the sidestand, is now a thoroughly
European type being tucked high and
tight into the left side of the bike.
Around all this, the bodywork has
been significantly slimmed, most
notably around the radiator shrouds,
while the seat is 2cm narrower at the
mid section and lower through the rear
section; the seat height is in fact 10mm
lower. As well, the air box has been
revised so it’s a no-tool job to open it
up and swap the filter. Yet, while the
bodywork is slimmer the fuel capacity
has been increased, now 7.9 litres
(apparently expandable to 8.5-litres if
you remove an internal funnel).
As you’d imagine, the Kayaba
suspension has again been updated,
taking the units from the new
motocrosser and modifying these to
off-road use. The forks – twin chamber
type – now feature a slightly firmer
spring (was 4.5, now 4.6Nm) and there’s
more oil, too. The shock has the same
weight spring (46Nm) but the coil has
dropped 350 grammes while there’s
30cc more fluid in the reservoir to
combat (heat) fatigue.
In fact when you check the numbers
there are so many changes. That engine
bore and stroke has changed just a
smidge, it was 97.0 x 60.8mm to give
449cc, but it’s now 97.0 x 60.9mm to
give a full 450cc. Small difference there,
but its confirmation of change. Likewise
the compression ratio has been raised
from 12.5 to 12.8:1. Numbers like these
might make you think that Yamaha has
been tuning the beast up all the more,
but not so (as we’ll explain later).
Likewise the chassis numbers are
changing too. Wheelbase in 2018 is
listed as 1465mm, now it’s 1480mm
– this in part would seem to come from
a relaxed steering head angle which
has been let out nearly a whole degree
(now 27º) while trail is slightly more
at 116mm (was 114mm). Seat height,
as said, has been lowered from 965 to
w
www.rustsports.com 67
ENDURO
w
THE YAMAHA
WR450F’S
Best bits
1. THE POWER TUNER APP
This should make things easier, especially as we’re
talking Wi-Fi here, not a plug-in. The App works with
a Communication Control Unit (part of the WR’s
race kit) which as well as adjusting the fuelling and
ignition maps will also give useful information like
intake and ambient air temperatures, maintenance
scheduling, system diagnostics, engine run time, it’ll
even keep a race log. So while you can dial the power
down with the blue button, you can dial it down more
with the App. How gentle would you like your 450?
2. THE REDUCED STATURE
The old WR450F was a big beast, tall
and sometimes vicious. This new one
is lower in the seat by 10mm, but by
being 20mm narrower in that seat it’s
also again much easier to get boot to
the floor. The narrower radiator shrouds
mean you can get your weight further
forward for cornering, while the lower
rear frame rails mean it’s easier to sling a
leg over. It really is significantly smaller.
68
www.rustsports.com
2019 Yamaha WR450F
3. THE SUSPENSION
Kayaba are a quality brand and their SSS dual
cartridge USD forks are positively benchmark
for the industry. They can be stiff when brand
new (on our 2015 WR250F we backed off the
compression adjusters both on the fork and
shock totally until we had about 10 hours on
them) but once bedded-in they are sublime
and they can keep their performance for long
service intervals. On the 2019 WR450F they
gave magic carpet smoothness.
4. THE COHESIVE DESIGN
In the past the poor WR450F has suffered
for being a bit awkward with some details.
Sharp motor, clunky headlight, sticky-out
sidestand, and bulbous bodywork. It wasn’t
far wrong – hey, in Australia the WR450F
is the top selling dirt bike – but it needed
tidying, focus. This 2019 model has that
focus, it’s sleek and purposeful, and
someone in their R&D he knows enduro –
or perhaps he just knows who to talk to.
w
www.rustsports.com
69
ENDURO
w
955mm. And all-up weight (fully fuelled)
has dropped from 123 to 119kg. With a
new fuel capacity of 7.9 litres we make
that around 113kg dry. KTM suggest
their 450EXC-F weighs 106kg without
fuel. Certain sources suggest further
weight savings can be had by swapping
to a li-ion battery. All in all, the Yamaha
has dropped the kilos and the bulk.
They allude to 250-size proportions,
which is a touch optimistic (probably
250 dimensions back in 1999!), but
absolutely it is smaller.
THE RIDE
Point being, while still being a
significant motorcycle (you know, big
bike) the WR450F is most certainly a
lot less intimidating than it used to be
and you could say – let’s say it – it’s a
whole lot more user friendly. The old
WR450F experience was akin to being a
monkey on the back of startled stallion.
Pretty wild, certainly very exciting. But
you knew you were the monkey, and
as a monkey you were no match for the
pure bred you were clinging to. With
the new WR450F it is at last not only
working with you, but flattering you.
Even if you’re just a club rider. Really.
The engine feels way tamer than
it was, without in any way being
emasculated. It still has the speed. In
a way we’re almost relieved it doesn’t
have a sixth gear because when you
hold onto the revs in fifth it’s already
incredibly fast. Mumbo for sure. But it
doesn’t light up the way it used to. You
could live in fear of the bottom end snap
of the old WR, in sketchy slippery going
it was hair-trigger stuff. There’s none of
that nonsense with the new WR450F,
this is civilized stuff, there’s authority
still, but you – not it – determine the
pace. We hauled up some honking nice
climbs and on these the WR450F is pure
joy – just get balanced and pour on the
coals, in fact you pour on only so much
because it flies.
The important thing is the finesse is
there. You can play with the throttle and
what you get is what you asked for. Yet
the power is so big you also have that
wonderful choice – lug or rev. You can
be two gears above where you should
70
www.rustsports.com
2019 Yamaha WR450F
SPECIFICATION
2019 YAMAHA WR450F
ENGINE : liquid-cooled DOHC
single-cylinder four-stroke
CAPACITY: 450cc
BORE & STROKE: 97x60.9mm
COMPRESSION RATIO: 12.8:1
FUELING: Mikuni fuel injection,
44mm throttle body
IGNITION: TCI
STARTING: Electric only
GEARBOX: Five-speed
CLUTCH: Wet multiplate, cable
actuation
Final drive Chain
FRAME: Semi double cradle,
aluminium
FRONT SUSPENSION: USD 49mm
Kayaba SSS dual chamber, travel
310mm
REAR SUSPENSION: Monoshock
Kayaba, linkage, travel 318mm
FRONT BRAKE: 270mm disc, twinpiston
caliper
REAR BRAKE: 245mm disc
TYRES: 90/90-21 130/90-18
CLAIMED WET WEIGHT: 119kg
SEAT HEIGHT: 955mm
WHEELBASE: 1480mm
FUEL CAPACITY: 7.9-litres
PRICE: £7599 (UK) €8799 (EU)
$13,299 (AUS) $9599 (US)
CONTACT: www.yamaha-motor.eu
w
www.rustsports.com 71
testing admittedly – the best OEM
suspension we’ve ever tested, and this
bike wasn’t even fully run-in. So good
you just stopped looking at the bumps,
the rocks, the ruts, the suspension was
dealing with it all single handed. When
going through the whoops, where you
might mistime and nosedive into the
up-face of the next whoop… that was
just not an issue, the forks absorbed
the hits with not so much as a shock
through the bars. You could just
ride into everything. We didn’t even
look at the clickers. For a rider who
weighs close to 100kg in his gear (and
admittedly isn’t that fast, real middleleague
aging clubman) this was just
perfection, although no doubt a tuner
could improve them even more.
Ahh yes, there’s that one small
omission we’ve made. We’ve got to give
credit for so much of this impressive
performance to ‘the blue button’.
You see Yamaha has included a twoenduro
w
be, but the WR450F shrugs it off and
pulls you through anyway. Allied to this
is the new lighter clutch, which despite
being a cable actuation is actually
remarkably light.
And added to this – the good news
keeps coming – the reduced bulk
of the new WR450F means you’re
not left physically struggling. It’s no
longer skyscraper tall, barge-wide. It’s
lower and narrower, so you feel more
comfortable and more able to be the
boss. The more we rode the WR450F
the more we started carving the forest.
It now turns in a very balanced way,
there’s a sense of evenness front to
back that was missing before, and yet it
turns tight while still being super stable
at speed, like a properly balanced bike
should.
By the way, it’s still loud for the
rider given the air box is right under
your chin booming away. It didn’t
seem as loud as the WR250F’s air box
curiously enough, but still earplugs are
recommended. That loudness is for the
rider mostly, away from the bike the
noise is respectfully muted.
Now for the cream, the icing, the
coup de grace… Behold the Kayaba
suspension. Which. Is. Simply. Sublime.
Oh boy, those KYB technicians deserve
a huge bonus, for this suspension setup
is divinity itself. There’s subtlety
and control of the highest order and it
stands to elevate an already excellent
package into something ethereal. Okay,
maybe we’re getting too prosaic there,
but this has to be – based on one day’s
72
www.rustsports.com
2019 Yamaha WR450F
“LIGHTER, SMALLER,
LOWER, LESS VIOLENT,
MORE ACCURATE,
MORE AGILE, MORE
COMFORTABLE. MORE…
JUST MORE, THE WAY
LESS IS OFTEN MORE”
w
www.rustsports.com 73
ENDURO
map option for when you’re riding. A
standard map, and when you push the
button on the left handlebar – and it
lights up blue – a traction map. It’s that
traction map that works so well in the
woods. It tames the power, but it doesn’t
take it away, the bike still revs out, still
shifts like a good ‘un, but without the
old fear factor. In standard map the
WR450F is still so much tamer than ever
before and we’d use this mode for say
sand riding and big open fast stuff, but
in Wales, 95% of the time (that 5% was
just for scientific purposes – so let’s say
100% of the time) we’d ride with the blue
light on.
Were there any negatives? Got to
think… Did we mention the Metzeler
Six Day enduro tyres fitted as standard?
Nice touch. Yeah, that’s not a negative.
Ahh yes, hot starting was a bit of an
issue. Typically when we start our
enduros these days the trick is to just
press the starter, nothing else. But with
the WR, curiously, it liked the smallest
crack of the throttle to get it lit. Once
you had it figured (or were told how)
then it wasn’t a problem.
And one more negative, quite a
significant one. For Europe, the new
WR doesn’t come EU homolgated. It
is being sold, in essence, as an offroad
competition bike. That could be
a real issue where an enduro includes
legal highways. In the UK we have an
exemption that allows competition
enduro bikes to be registered –
something undertaken by the owner,
not the manufacturer – so you can
still register and ride the WR legally on
the road, but in other countries more
extreme action might need to be taken.
Hopefully this won’t take the shine off
the sales pitch.
JUST WOW
You know, what shines through is the
thoroughness of Yamaha’s revisions.
They’ve got experience in enduro that
spans decades – DTs in the 1970s, ITs
in the 1980s, the WR two-strokes in the
1990s and since the 2000s the WR-Fs.
Every now and again they go slightly
off the boil, but when Yamaha bring
their A-game, as they have here, then
we’re blown away. There’s clearly been
74
www.rustsports.com
2019 Yamaha WR450F
attention given to rider feedback, as well
as the attention to detail and the sheer
quality that Yamaha has bestowed upon
this WR450F.
Simply to look at, this is one
handsome bike. The bike is sleek. And
the details speak of Yamaha’s Shifulike
understanding of the sport. The
airbox is no-nonsense. The sidestand
is properly tucked away. The new skid
plate is far more protective (offering
the water pump a place to hide) but
also fits so much better, so it’ll pack less
mud. The headlamp unit is so much
slimmer front-to-back, and so is now
not offensive the way the old one was.
That map switch – it operates on the fly,
no need to hold a steady throttle or to
stop, switch off etc, just hit it whenever
you need.
The new WR450F is lighter, smaller,
lower, less violent, more accurate,
more agile, more comfortable. More…
just more, the way less is often more.
Its still a 450, still one of the most
powerful 450s, too – so lower-order
European enduro riders might still
want to approach with some caution
– but everyone else, from desert racers
in Australia and the US, to trail riders
everywhere, and to European enduro
riders of some standing, this is some
bike – you really want to ride one.
Just wow.
www.rustsports.com 75
LONG TERMER
76 www.rustsports.com
HONDA CRF250RX
HONDA CRF250RX
RUST has a 2019 Honda CRF250RX on long-term test (oh yeah!). As replacement for the CRF250X
it’s both long awaited and much anticipated. So how much is it race and how much trail?
Words & Images: JB
This Honda CRF250RX has
about as much in common
with its predecessor, the
CRF250X, as the X had with
the XR250 that went before it. Okay
the frame looks similar, both are
lateral beam type in aluminium, and
the colour – yes, red – but after that,
this is an all-new bike, with an allnew
demeanour.
It’s one helluva trade-up, in
evolutionary terms, that takes us
on a transition from a 28hp gentle
trailie to a 45hp screaming banshee
of a racer – in one giant leap. The
RX is all about sharp race-winning
potential; it has the capability to
take on the best of European enduro
tackle and quite possibly win. But
before doing that, maybe we should
figure if it’s the best from Japan, as
we can’t overlook that other Oriental
wunderkind, the WR250F.
THE TECH
How much we should go on about
the tech is debatable, after all there’s
Honda’s own website with all the
data, so why copy all that info?
What’s significant – we should cover
that, though. Like the motor. It’s no
longer a Uni-cam (kind of SOHC),
now a twin-cam (DOHC) unit. It
seems when it comes to extracting
LONG TERMER
PART TWO
WHAT
WE DID…
The Honda’s very first
run was the Brechfa
Rally, one super-chilly
late winter weekend.
Just 190 miles of fast
trails over two days – a
nice way to run-in the
motor, maybe! After that
we shot over to Yamaha
Off-Road Experience
in even-deeper Wales
to check out its
performance against a
class benchmark – the
Yamaha WR250F. As
a way to get to know
the little red rooster we
figured a good eight
hours in the saddle
might do it.
maximum go from a small fourstroke
unit this is the way to go, not
to mention the fitting of Titanium
valves with oval springs and twin
exhaust ports (and so twin exhausts).
This motor debuted in the 2018
season in Honda‘s CRF250R
motocrosser, it got updated for the
2019 season (improved, with 9%
more top end honk) and it’s this
very engine that sits in the RX, with
very few modifications. The motor,
physically, seems all but identical,
it’s the electronics package that’s
changed, having been given new
(‘softer’) ignition and fuelling maps to
suit off-road application. Otherwise,
the top end performance and just
about everything is identical to the
CRF250R. So for an off-roader it’s one
potent package.
Likewise Honda has done the
minimum to adjust the chassis to
off-road. There’s an 18” rear wheel, a
larger 8.5-litre tank and a sidestand
while the suspension has been given
off-road settings, including a lighter
spring rate in the forks. It is then
barely an off-roader and certainly a
long way from a conventional enduro
bike – don’t be fooled by the lighting
kit so neatly applied by Honda UK,
this thing is no trail bike – to use the
cliché, it’s weapons-grade.
w
www.rustsports.com
77
LONG TERMER
w
THE RIDE
It is, though, a Honda – and it’s rare
that Honda make downright evil bikes
(although by heck they can make potent
ones, like the legendary CR250). And
with this CRF250RX, for all the potency
it maintains a sense of civility. There’s
a lot of power to discover, but the long
and linear rev of this engine means it’s
delivered without surprises, you dial in
only as much or as little as you want.
The pull from the low end isn’t
obviously strong but it is consistent, it
doesn’t bog, instead it digs deep and
delivers. If it’s not coming fast enough
then dip the clutch and get the revs
up, then it truly leaps forward. Mid-totop
brings only more creamy-linear
delivery. At first, while the engine
was tight, it all felt like it was too little,
and too short. Fifth gear is found
early as the gearing is close ratio and
short. But when the engine loosened
up and the full range of the rev was
discovered (14,400rpm is a long-long
way out) you find there’s a heap more
on tap. Sometimes you think you’re
fully tapped out only to find another
3mm of throttle cable and with that the
motor winds up another octave! It is
some engine, for sure, and wrung out
it makes sweet music, at least for those
that like high-pitched screaming fourstrokes.
Handling is also so very Honda and
not a little unlike the CRF250X. It rides
stable and kind of low feeling. Maxed
out on fire roads it was impressively
stable – not a worry – but it was equally
happy flicking through the tight stuff.
Perhaps not quite as sharp turning as
a KTM, but there’s not that much bulk
to this bike so quick steering in this
category is all relative – you’re not really
wanting for more turn-in, that is for
sure. The low-riding feeling reminded
me of how the old CRF250X used to feel
great on a grass test, it kind of hoovered
along and you felt a lot of confidence
and a lot of feedback from the tyres; the
RX is similar, a bike you can press into a
turn with your outside thigh and knee
78
www.rustsports.com
HONDA CRF250RX
and gently push it deeper, tighter into
the turn.
The suspension is very good. It
bedded in quickly and with no time
spent on the clickers – just riding
exactly as it came out of the box – it
felt pretty damn good, smooth and
competent. Perhaps it could be a little
more supple on the small choppy
roots, but equally with some time and
attention applied to the adjusters that
could come in any case. But out of the
box, it felt good, real good.
Ergonomics are surprisingly
comfortable for a 6’0” rider. It’s probably
more rangy than you first think, and
there’s no feeling of being scrunched
up or pushed too far over the bars.
Talking of the bars – Renthal Fat Bars
(a nice fitting) – these feel low but
suitably so, so you’re more connected to
what’s going on. Seat-footpeg-handlebar
spacing all felt good, too. Very natural –
so very Honda.
It’s kind of odd. The RX is almost
twice as powerful as the old X, yet it’s
no mad axe, it retains the old bike’s
accessibility and ease of use. It lacks
the six-speed wide-ratio gearbox,
the hydraulic clutch and a few of the
trimmings we expect from an enduro
(although, as said, Honda UK have
plugged most of the gap there) – and is
clearly meant to be a cross-over machine
for motocross and cross-country type
events – but enduro is easily within its
capabilities. Put the engine mapping
into the smooth option (there are three:
smooth, standard and aggressive) and the
X-type nature is all the more apparent,
the RX really can be very peaceable, and a
real traction-master.
w
www.rustsports.com 79
LONG TERMER
w
THE COMPARISON
So, we pitched the RX against a new
2019 Yamaha WR250F. The WR got a
few updates in 2018, including boosted
bottom-to-mid thanks to a new
cylinder head design with reshaped
ports and a shortened intake funnel,
and a new frame, essentially that of the
2018 YZ250F which features a wider
central beam.
It still largely feels like the old WR250F,
but the new motor character is obvious,
it punches a lot harder off the bottom.
And while the chassis has been updated
the general responses are largely the
same. Compared to the Honda, the
Yamaha feel taller, and in tight stuff,
tippier!
Here at RUST we had a 2015 WR250F
for about three seasons and grew to
love that bike. Most notably it came
with a full Akrapovic titanium exhaust,
and just as at the original launch, we
preferred the way the WR ran on that
pipe – the Akra seems to smooth out
the motor, it runs sweeter bottom to top
(and sounds better too – without being
that much louder). Our test Yamaha
on this occasion had the stock pipe
fitted and this, explained Dylan Jones
of the Yamaha Off-Road Experience,
accentuates the new bottom end torque
hit and so at YORE they too prefer the
power delivery of the WR with the Akra.
w
MODS SO FAR
Even though this isn’t our bike, we couldn’t
bring ourselves to trashing the OEM
plastics. So opted to put these carefully
away (to refit on that imaginary resale)
and fit an Acerbis full replica plastics kit,
to which we added a set of X-Grip frame
protectors and X-Ultimate hand guards (all
of this stuff is great quality and fitting is
a doddle). The standard sump plate looks
pretty good so we’ve left this for now.
Our planned custom graphics weren’t
available in time for this test (as you can
see), but will come from LR Designs ready
for the next outing. Likewise, we rode on
OEM Dunlop AT81 tyres – which are a
cross-country off-road spec tyre –but will
be changing to European competition
homologated (as required by ACU rules)
Metzeler Six Days for regular enduro
riding.
80
www.rustsports.com
HONDA CRF250RX
w
www.rustsports.com 81
LONG TERMER
w
Riding around a short course in the
woods, swapping between the Honda
and Yamaha, here’s what we found:
1. The Yamaha’s front end felt more
planted – this could be a tyre thing
(Honda: Dunlop, Yamaha: Metzeler).
2. The Honda’s linear power delivery
made pulling up a slippery uphill
switchback a lot easier than on the
Yamaha where the thumping bottom
end was sort of all or nothing – you
needed to be on top of things with
the Yamaha.
82
www.rustsports.com
HONDA CRF250RX
3. The Yamaha’s six gears make no
difference in the tight stuff, but once
on open trails it gives the blue bike
the longer legs with less rev.
4. The Honda feels to ride lowish, the
Yamaha taller.
5. The Honda’s 8.5-litre tank is wider
than the Yamaha’s 7.5-litre unit, so
it’s that much broader across the
front. For European short-lap enduros
we could probably have got away
with the motocross tank and had an
altogether slimmer set-up. It’s not a
big deal, but you’ll notice it.
6. Yes, the Yamaha which we’ve often
typified as a screamer, feels like
grunter in its current tune when
matched with the Honda.
w
www.rustsports.com 83
LONG TERMER
HONDA CRF250RX
w
One thing was for certain; the Honda
was in for the fight. While still having
a five-speed gearbox and still being
not much more than a lightly modified
motocrosser it was able to match the
enduro-specific Yamaha in a woods
environment. Dylan says the Yamaha
actually better suits a more experienced
clubman rider, rather than an absolute
beginner as it’s quite a hi-po machine
and certainly in the slippery winter
conditions we rode in, the Yamaha
took a little more input than the Honda
to navigate its way around the tracks.
That’s not to say the Honda is so much
easier to ride, or better, but the two are
very different.
In what was quite a short test we
couldn’t establish a clear winner, but we
could tell that the Honda is right on the
money and every inch a match for the
Yamaha, which pretty much makes it a
match for anything in the class.
SO, FOR NOW
For now we’re super-happy with the
Honda. It’s that sweet mix of being
real easy to ride – as 250cc four-stroke
enduros should be – and actually very
competitive, too. It’s suits this older,
slower clubman rider, but it stands to
make him faster and more competitive
too, as it asks little and delivers big. We
can’t wait to try it in a local enduro.
84
www.rustsports.com
ANTI-SLIP GRIP
3 DIFFERENT AREAS OF GRIP
WATERPROOF
EXPANDED FOAM
INFLATABLE AIR CUSHION
PRESSURE ADJUSTMENT RANGE
+ - HEIGHT/RIGIDITY
pump it
x-seat air
@AcerbisMotorsport
@acerbismotorsport
www.acerbis.com
ACERBIS ITALIA S.P.A Via Serio 37 - Albino (Bg) - Italy phone +39 035 773 577 infomoto@acerbis.it
adventure
RIDING THE
BRECHFA RALLY
You’d have thought after nearly freezing in the 2018 Brechfa Rally – and
positively dying at the controls of the Yamaha Ténéré 660 – we’d have steered
clear of the 2019 event. Not so, we went back for more, only with a much lighter
bike! It was still brutally cold and for two-thirds of the event it rained, but you
know, it’s still so much fun and the people are so welcoming, it’s hard to think of
a better thing to do on a winter’s weekend (we clearly have limited imagination)…
Words & Images: JB
w
When the paddock looks like this
you need a little self-motivation
to get out there and do it. That or
a Honda CRF250RX, which had
JB enjoying every minute!
86
www.rustsports.com
The Brechfa Rally
www.rustsports.com 87
adventure
w
1
2
88
www.rustsports.com
The Brechfa Rally
1 2 3
Waiting for the start, there’s
no point standing in the
wind and the cold, so most
crowded into the old cow
barn for some shelter.
It looks fairly empty in this
shot, but at the end of each lap
the barn and the burger/tea
trailer kept body temperatures
up and spirits high while
riders waited for their minute
Waiting for the start the sun
came out – just to fool a
few. Full waterproofs were
the call! Note the humble
environment, if you’re after
glamour this isn’t for you…
3
w
www.rustsports.com 89
adventure
w
Spare a thought for the guys
who organize these events,
in this case all volunteers.
So while three nights
prepping the Honda felt like a fair
effort that’s nothing compared
to the months of preparations
the Dyfed Dirt Bike Club put
into the event. Dylan Williams
(Clerk of the Course) explained
the first permission requests are
made a full six months before
the event. Route plotting starts
about a month out, a fortnight
out the arrowing begins, the
weekend before the special test
gets taped and arrowed, then the
Friday before the Saturday start
there’s the last run around to
ensure the course is all in place.
That involves a core working
crew of 20 but over the weekend
of the rally the team swells.
There are 12 riding marshals, 10
static marshals, seven people
controlling the special test then
the team who are manning the
check as riders start and finish
each lap. So three nights fiddling
with the CRF – that’s nothing…
4
4
Rally has evolved into
something of an enduro-lite
type competition. Where
adventure bikes and trail
bikes used to roam it’s now
become a game for enduros.
90
www.rustsports.com
The Brechfa Rally
w
www.rustsports.com 91
adventure
w
92
www.rustsports.com
The Brechfa Rally
5
6
5 6
The Dyfed club put together a
35 miles lap, including an eightminute
special test, all repeated
three times on each day. A lot of
it was through managed forest.
When the sun shone briefly it
was quite pretty!
To give the enduro bikes a bit
more challenge there were greenarrowed
(optional) enduro loops
where traditional deep Welsh ruts
were to be found in abundance.
This bit is an easy section.
w
www.rustsports.com 93
adventure
w
7 7
Logging roads make up part of
the course. The temptation would
be to ride these flat out. But we
didn’t, no. Of course not...
Are amateur motorcycle
clubs still valid in these
days of professionally run
events? On the basis of the
Dyfed Dirt Bike Club they are, for
the good they put back, as Dylan
Williams explained:
“As a club we’re not in it to
make money, we donate all our
profits to charitable causes. Since
our inception we’ve raised over
£40,000, and £6000 of that last
year went to a children’s ward at
a local hospital. It’s about giving
back to our community and
putting dirt biking in people’s
good books.”
It goes further than that, too.
Ten of the static marshals at
the Brechfa came from the
local Llangrannog Rowing Club
– there’s an exchange here, the
rowers support the bikers at the
Brechfa while the Dyfed DBC
guys support (and sponsor) the
rowers in their annual Celtic
Challenge rowing race across
the Irish Sea. Great community
action.
94
www.rustsports.com
The Brechfa Rally
w
www.rustsports.com 95
adventure
w
8 9 10
There really isn’t anything
to get you into too much
trouble with rally but as
with all off-road you have
to expect a little groveling
from time to time.
As the event includes the use of
public roads and public space the
local Police have to be notified
and they get involved – in a
good way, you kind of get the
impression this is one of their
more enjoyable jobs, eh?
If the rain doesn’t
get you wet, then the
water splashes will.
8
96
www.rustsports.com
The Brechfa Rally
9
10
w
www.rustsports.com 97
adventure
11
w
11
Sometime you just chill
out – after all, the lap is
loose on time so you can
opt take your time and
check out the countryside.
12
RUST had more van that
was really needed, but it
at least offered plenty of
space for hanging/drying
all the kit.
12
98
www.rustsports.com
The Brechfa Rally
FANCY A GO?
The All Terrain Rally Challenge is a
five round series, Brechfa being the
opener. Remaining dates for 2019
are:
July 6-7: Ryedale Rally (Yorkshire)
August 17-18: Beacons Rally (Wales)
September 21-22 Circuit of Mann
(Isle of Man)
October (dates TBC): Hafren Rally
(Wales)
To find more information
including classes, rules etc go to
www.rallymoto.co.uk
www.rustsports.com
LONG TERMER
100
www.rustsports.com
HUSQVARNA FE350
LONG TERMER
PART FOUR
HUSQVARNA FE350
Our long term Husqvarna FE350 hasn’t stood still, but race developments have
stalled while Warren has been establishing a permanent base in Portugal. And
with 2019 season plans modified the FE350 is to get a new stablemate…
Words: Warren M.
The evolution of our Husqvarna FE350
and my constant tinkering with it has
me in love. Perhaps it also has to do
with the fact that I am riding more
than I have in years and that RUST has a new
garage / workshop in Portugal that is so much
more pleasant a place to spend time in than its
functional but basic predecessor.
While JB’s garage upgrade is coming to an
end (translation: already jammed full of the
family’s outdoor detritus – JB), mine is just
beginning. I’m hoping to finish the work by
the end of the summer and to keep heading
out each week riding. My plans for the Bajas
championship here in Portugal seems to be
playing second fiddle to life demands. I have
been pretty ill for the past two months with a w
www.rustsports.com
101
LONG TERMER
w
lingering chest and sinus infection; my
son’s preparing for his 18th birthday and
A-level exams; we’re in the middle of
house renovations, and a family health
emergency back in Aussie had Mrs M.
on a plane same day and gone for a
few weeks, leaving the lads to fend for
ourselves.
It looks like I might just make the
mid-season round of the Bajas at the
end of May and only because it’s close
to my home here. There’ll be a big break
in the calendar over the summer (it’s
just too hot to be racing) before it kicks
off again in September with the season
coming to a climax at the Portelegré
500 at the end of October – I won’t be
missing that one!
My son will be at Uni by then, the
renovations should be complete and
hopefully life will return to being a more
mundane and uneventful affair. Great
for getting out and riding.
After complaining I was wearing out
the FE350 by riding so many hours, JB
and I have been knocking around the
idea of me possibly making the 2020
season a two-bike affair – one race bike
and one practice bike – and me doing
the Baja championship properly. I liked
102
www.rustsports.com
HUSQVARNA FE350
the idea and so I placed an order for
a new 2020 FE350 this past week. I’m
loving the current 2017-19 bike so much
that I did not want to replace it with two
new 2020 bikes sight unseen. I know
there are a few changes due on the 2020
bike but I’m going to wait and see what
I think of them before I make a further
decision on the second bike.
The take away point is that I am
sticking with the FE350 as my primary
choice of enduro machine. The motor
is wonderful and as I have tinkered with
it I have found a near perfect setup for
me. It’s only taken a few years to find
the right bike and then find the right
set-up, but I couldn’t be happier. Riding
is all about confidence and I am riding
with more confidence now than I have
since I was in my teens and it’s mainly
down to the bike being so predictable,
responsive and smooth.
In my feature ‘In search of the perfect
setup’ – set for RUST #43 – I provide
some insights into my approach to
setting up a race bike and what works
for me and perhaps what may work for
you.
www.rustsports.com 103
FITNESS
104 www.rustsports.com
FITNESS ABOVE 40
FAST AND
FUTUREPROOF
Fitness above 40
Our Warren is a fitness nut. Loves a gym, been going for years.
So based on his progress specifically over the last four years with
RUST, going between gym, track (and hospital!) he’s putting
down in a series of articles his fitness tips for the over forties
Words: Warren Images: JB
FIRST AN OVERVIEW
As the first article in this series I wanted
to address my fundamental approach to
fitness and nutrition in an overview, rather
than jumping in to providing you with
programs and menus first without any context.
I have addressed some key points for you to
consider for yourself and think about. What is it that
you are trying to achieve? Having a clear mind and
understanding of what you want to get out of training
is a key point before you begin. Set realistic goals that
you can click off like laps, this will get you comfortable
with your new surroundings and routine. It will build
consistency and confidence that will improve both
your mental and physical agility on the bike and
positively impact on your riding capability.
w
www.rustsports.com
105
FITNESS
w
MINDSET
Things change, for us old-timers
they have already changed and will
continue to do so at an alarming rate
and seemingly at a faster pace as you
get older. Weight is more difficult to
keep off and finding motivation can
sometimes be a challenge. And in
general – things hurt!
It is also important to recognise that
the brain lies! You can’t do what you
used to do in the gym, you need to
be smarter than that. If you try and
maintain the same regime you did
in your twenties you will never make
consistent fitness work for you. The
result will be an injury or just getting
sick and tired of being sore all the time.
Take your time and build up to where
you want to be – it’s more rewarding
to be able to stick with a program
that provides you a good balance of
sustainable fitness. There is no greater
force to being able to improve your
riding – while making your life in
general more functional and rewarding
– than a balanced health program.
Having the right mindset is crucial
to a successful lifestyle and age is just
a number. I count myself lucky, I’ve
never been massively overweight or
lacked motivation but I have struggled
with consistency, I think we all do.
It is important that you set a goal for
yourself, not one for anyone else, or
what you feel you should be able to
achieve, just simply one that you CAN
achieve. Each small win should leave
you feeling satisfied that you have
accomplished the task you have set
yourself.
BE REALISTIC
Over the past 40 years or so, I have tried
so many training regimes, new fads,
nutrition variations, and in the end I
discovered that I had to first recognise
why I could not stick with them. I had
to know what was holding me back
and what my weaknesses were and
try to establish my own mindset when
it came to exercise. I had to forgive
myself when I failed to maintain my
consistency and establish a pathway to
being able to adjust my lifestyle so that
I managed more frequently to find the
motivation I needed to make the effort
to stay fit.
106
www.rustsports.com
FITNESS ABOVE 40
THE KEY IS TO BE REALISTIC.
Do you dream of the Dakar? Do you
want to be able to finish a two-hour
Hare & Hounds at a consistent pace
in the expert or clubman class? Or do
you want just enough oomph to get
out there and enjoy a good day’s trail
ride with your buddies on a Sunday
morning and a good beer afterwards?
Whatever your goal, that’s okay.
I am not a qualified trainer or fitness
coach and my intent in sharing training
and nutrition tips with you over this
series of articles and videos is merely
an insight from someone who has
loved riding for over 40 years and has
gained a little insight into what can
make a transformative difference in
your enjoyment of riding as well as
your ability on the bike. Not to mention
that it makes riding safer. Mental agility
when you’re tired helps you make better
decisions in dangerous situations.
EMBRACE YOUR PERSONALITY
For me, I have come to recognise and
embrace my personality on and off the
bike and use this knowledge to develop
a program that works for me.
I am highly competitive and keen to
make sure I am able to ride at the best
pace I can for as many years as I can.
I’m a risk taker and I like to live life to
the limit, and my approach to training
is no different. I have had the benefit of
many personal trainers over the years, a
few nutritionists and have experienced
the outcomes of their directed
approaches. I’ve taken those elements
that have worked for me and discarded
those that I felt were not helpful and
have now come up with a personal
program and training methodology
that is begged, borrowed and stolen
to sculpt a specific program for me as
an off-road rider/racer. I hope you will
find something of use to you, even if it’s
w
www.rustsports.com 107
FITNESS
FITNESS ABOVE 40
w
only to do as I have done and borrow
snippets from what I am going to be
sharing with you.
MOTIVATION
1. Take small steps – it makes it easy to
maintain motivation.
2. Spend some time on getting to know
yourself. Knowing what to expect
from your mind is like taking a track
walk. If you know what’s coming you
can prepare for it.
PROGRAMS
My training program is a pretty simple
hybrid that combines R.U.S.T. (Random
Unilateral Strength Training), functional
training, a few cross-fit principles,
cycling and riding.
I will be sharing programs and
nutrition tips starting in the next issue
and online at www.rustsports.com
NUTRITION
I recognise that each of us is vastly
different and what may be reasonable
for one person might be a bridge too
far for another. My personal affliction
is that I live with a devil on one
shoulder and while I’m able to be pretty
disciplined most of the time I have an
innate yearning to let the dogs loose
from time to time. I’ve come to accept
that this is part of who I am and in so
doing I have some to realise that a good
balanced life (in my case going from
one extreme to another) is best managed
by keeping the extremes less severe.
Now I’m able to enjoy life by having the
occasional party and riding the way I
want to with the fitness I need.
Hopefully my nutrition tips will help
you rationalise a gradual change to
getting the best out of the food you eat
and will prove helpful in finding what
works for you.
NEXT TIME
Well, that’s it for an introduction. Next
time we’ll get properly into designing
your own personal fitness programme
A DISCLAIMER
Given the nanny states we live in I would like to advise you
that you should ignore everything I write or say. You should
not watch any of the videos and for your own safety please
do not follow any of my comments on nutrition. In fact,
please be careful that you don’t strain yourself lifting any of
the devices you may need to. Seriously… if you are in any
doubt about your state of health please consult a health
professional, take out insurance and always train with a
health and safety officer present. I take no responsibility
whatsoever for anything I say or do and for any of you that
decide to follow my ramblings you do so at your own risk.
108
www.rustsports.com
SUBSCRIBE!
MARV’S LOOKING AT YOU, AND HE AIN’T HAPPY
Why isn’t Marv happy? Could be because he lost the
2019 AMA SX title. But it’s not that. It’s because Marv
sees, knows, all. And he knows you haven’t subscribed
to RUST yet. And in our moto-universe that’s a badbad
thing. It show’s your ignorance, your lack of care.
So make Marv happy, get educated and find your own
happiness (maybe even love) in one simple action – by
hitting the SUBSCRIBE button.
The subscription is FREE and it takes just seconds to
sign up – we ask only for your email. That’s it! It’s totally
free, guaranteed no spam, no junk, no strings – just a
friendly email from us whenever you need to be alerted
to a new issue. You do that and maybe – maybe – Marv
won’t put a hit on you.
It’s the smallest act of faith and support and it helps
secure this magazine’s future. So please do it. And why
not right now? Hit the link below!
WWW.RUSTSPORTS.COM
LATEST GEAR
Stuff
TCX COMP EVO 2 MICHELIN BOOTS
Contact: US/RoW: www.tcxboots.com UK: www.nevis.uk.com
RRP: UK: £399
First of all these are a very modern and
beautiful looking boot, they look great.
You may be expecting something
special given the Michelin name, but I
suspect this is much more marketing than
anything else and in my opinion it doesn’t
bring anything significant to the boot.
Now Warren and JB had me wear these
boots as being a trail tour guide I get to ride
long hours and big distances, so I’m a good
tester for products such as these. And so far
I’ve ridden in these boots for around 1500
kilometres.
My first impression was that the Evo Comp
2s were really comfortable and easy to adjust
to your foot and to fit with knee guards –
especially given that nowadays knee guards
have been getting so much bigger, always a
concern with the boots. The straps are good
and easy to tighten and when you’re in and
out of boots every day this is definitely a big
plus.
Although these boots aren’t made for
walking (opposite to the song!) they are
comfortable and were sweet even on those
first days, so no blisters, no calluses! Like
many a technical boot, they are a bit noisy
when you walk due to the double flex control
on the back. On the inside the boots are also
great, very modern with very good finishes.
They look like a sportswear shoe.
The performance has been very good, I like
the high level of protection they offer as well
as the comfort – no small praise given my last
boots, a pair of Gaerne SG12s, are a hard act to
follow. There is the odd issue though. On the
area of the instep I find these boots are bulky
and on the 500EXC I use for the tours I had to
adjust my gearshift and brake levers. As well,
I definitely felt that in the area of the instep
they were not quite grippy enough. It seems
to me that they should have built that patch
in another material or at least with some relief
so that in the area of contact with the shift
lever there exists more grip.
Back to the positives – the boots have
been very water resistant. Running through
puddles of water and on rainy days the boots
have kept my feet dry, which is a very positive
and important aspect given long riding
days. And after 1500km you can see the only
obvious wear has been some abrasion on the
left sole.
In all, these are a good looking, comfortable
boot that while not claimed to be waterproof
have so far not let water in. You may have to
make some adjustments to match your shift
and brake lever but the upside is that you can
easily wear these boots for 12 hours without
any problem or desire for taking them off.
This is as you may imagine is very important
to me! And finally, given the extended test so
far, I’m impressed they still look like new!
Pedro Matos
110
www.rustsports.com
www.rustsports.com 111
LATEST GEAR
Stuff
ACERBIS X-SEAT
Contact: www.acerbis.it
RRP: EU: €189.99
More class than arse! Buying and fitting an Acerbis X-seat (comfort/soft) is
definitely not a bum steer. This is the only seat that I have used that over
three days riding or more has left me feeling human rather than sporting
a severe case of monkey butt – especially in the wet!
The comfort seat is easy to fit, has loads of grip, and is waterproof so does not
take on water like the OEM ones do. The X-Seat is unique in that it uses internal
expanded foam that is moulded in a one-piece shape (no base, no staples, no vinyl
cover and no upholstery foam) so it keeps the bike light in wet conditions. More
importantly it’s comfortable, it has raised ridges that align under each bone in
your bum cheeks and creates an airflow channel down the middle of the seat to
keep the ventilation at optimal levels – and did I say that it keeps the seat dry? That
translates into a dry and happy rear end. All of these features combine to make it a
superb investment in personal comfort.
I found the shape of the seat to be slightly flatter than the stock seat (I liked it) but
it felt narrower so bigger bottoms may not get on as well with this seat a skinnier
one would. The grip was better than OEM but not as harsh as a gripper seat. It
won’t be pulling down your trousers but I felt it aided in my transitions over the
seat during a race. It also felt like the seat would be less prone to wear and tear from
knee braces, which can be brutal on stock seat covers.
The downside is the price – yes it’s pricey, but if you want hours of comfort then
perhaps it’s worth it to you, for me it’s definitely worth the investment.
Warren M.
112
www.rustsports.com
www.rustsports.com 113
Long Termer
SUZUKI
LONG TERMER
PART THREE
V-STROM 650XT
We needed an event that would prove the worth of the Suzuiki
V-Strom 650XT. We found it in the Kielder 500. In all some 1100
miles in four days on road and track in rain and shine. Easy….
Words: JB Images: JB & Adventure Spec
Time is the enemy these days. It runs by
way too fast; we have too much to do
in too little time. And so it unravels our
best laid plans. So it is with the Suzuki
V-Strom 650XT long termer. Plan was
for it to ride the adventure class at the Rallye du
Maroc, but then the class got cancelled, and with it
being the end of the 2018 season there was precious
little else to point it at before the year rounded out.
Fortunately Suzuki hasn’t pressed for its return. So
as the new year thawed, or nearly thawed, we at last
found a challenge worthy of its capabilities.
The Kielder 500, at the end of March, was the
first of a trio of competitions that come under the
banner of The Adventure Spec Challenge as run
by Rally Moto UK. The 2019 series brings three
weekends of rally road book competition to the
UK adventure bike fraternity. No light enduro
bikes are allowed, this is about true adventure
bikes riding for two days in the wilder parts of the
UK. Kielder was the first, up there on the Scottish
borders, next comes the Wales 500 and the IoM w
114
www.rustsports.com
Suzuki V-Strom 650XT
www.rustsports.com 115
Long Termer
w
500 on the majestic Mona’s Isle is the
finale, in September. The 500 bit refers
to the approximate distance of each
event, being about 500km. These are
no speed events; the competition is
measured on accuracy of navigation
(each competitor is GPS tracked), while
the terrain is not extreme either, being
designed to be ridden by adventure
bikes on road tyres (predominantly
being gravel tracks).
You can see the V-Strom XT is a
perfect fit. And so the RUST entry went
in for the first round, the Kielder 500,
pretty sharpish (or pretty late if you’re
Robert Hughes the organiser, but early
by our standards…). The fact was it
wouldn’t just be a 500 for the V-Strom,
as with riding up to the venue and back
the total distance wouldn’t be 500km,
instead 1100 miles (nearly 1800km).
GETTING THERE
This being an adventure event we
took an adventure strategy. No van,
no trailer, no hotels – just bike, rider
and some canvas. The Suzuki was as
good as ready to go. The modifications
I’d made in 2018, using parts from SW
Motech and R&G, together with a set
of Metzeler Karoo Streets, meant all I
needed was to load it up with my Giant
Loop Coyote Roll Top Saddlebags, a
Touratech camera/tank bag, and my
latest addition, a Cool Covers seat
cover to help with the long hours in
the saddle. Long time RUST buddy July
Behl came along too, for laughs and
company, resting up his BMW RnineT
Scrambler in favour of his KTM 1190
Adventure R.
The 400 miles trip from Kent to
Northumberland was despatched
116
www.rustsports.com
Suzuki V-Strom 650XT
in stages. 4:30am start from our
respective residences to a 5:30
rendezvous and coffee at the Thurrock
services on the M25. Then a motor
on up north to Peterborough for an
8:00am breakfast at an American diner.
Then more highway/motorway work
up to Harrogate, and a spur off into the
Yorkshire Dales for a seriously scenic
back roads final leg up to Kielder.
The Suzuki didn’t even blink. July
likes a brisk pace on his KTM, so the
V-Strom was set at 85mph all the
way up to Harrogate. Despite being
a mere 650 this was no bother to
the V-Strom, although it dented the
fuel consumption figures a fair bit,
showing about 57mpg for the journey.
The engine on the V-Strom is sublime
in being so smooth; it hoovers up
highways as easily as any 1200, doesn’t
feel at all breathless, and leaves the
rider fairly relaxed. Got to say the Cool
Cover helped here too, and I didn’t
register any butt ache.
In the Yorkshire Dales, sometimes
working along on single-car width
roads, again the V-Strom was just
fine. There’s a fair deal of torque as
well as rev to this motor and it can
deal with anything the road throws
at it and there’s just the minimum of
gearbox stirring. The handling on the
Karoo Streets was of course just fine,
as good as any road tyre, given the
modest block height. As a platform for
sightseeing it was as good as riding an
automatic.
RIDING THE KIELDER
Day One didn’t go quite to plan.
Starting way into the second half of the
w
www.rustsports.com 117
Long Termer
w
entry and stopping for photos, as ever,
pushed us to the tail end of the pack.
Meanwhile some earlier rain had left
those tracks that were running over
clay, soil or grass a little tricky for the
low-profile Karoo Streets. It didn’t pay
to push my luck and I rode at a near
crawl through these sections. Finding
a guy with a horizontal Triumph Tiger
1200 (also on road tyres) suggested
this was a prudent MO. There were
also steep off-cambers on many of the
trails, falling away into deep ditches,
so pushing your luck could lead to
serious consequences, so again riding
tricky sections trials-style made good
sense.
When rain came in the afternoon
we hit calamity as my iPhone (which
I was using as an ICO – distance
reading device) isn’t waterproof and
one clumsy attempt to slide it into the
protection of my tankbag wiped out
the distance reading. Turned out my
riding companions, July and Andy
Slater (nicknamed Harry as he rode
an Royal Enfield Himalayan), weren’t
navigating for themselves. July had no
clue as to where we were, while Harry
could only offer a compass he wore
on his sleeve for assistance. Well, we at
118
www.rustsports.com
Suzuki V-Strom 650XT
least knew which way north was.
Of course there’s an easy answer to
such situations – follow the tracks left
by the pack. This mostly works but gets
tricky when too many people have
taken the wrong turn at ambiguous
intersections. Here you have to
become a modern day Indian scout,
looking for the most used option and
checking for evidence of U-turns. The
rain eventually stopped and we found a
distinct enough crossroads to reset the
ICO-iPhone.
Only then we ran into a fresh crash
scene where an enterprising Alex
Golden had not only launched his 1200
GS into a bog but as good as sliced his
nose off in the process. While two men
of stern constitution literally taped
his nose back into place the rest of us
played He-Man in trying to push-pullheave
his GS back up onto the track.
So, very typical it seems of JB & July
adventures, we ran low on time and
were diverted off the final section and
told to short cut it back to the finish.
Day Two ran better. July and Harry
decided on a day of eating and mild
sightseeing over one of competition.
So the Suzuki and I were able to roll free
and fast. In drier conditions the Karoo
Streets were getting good bite and when
Dutchman Michel Langmuur flew by
w
www.rustsports.com 119
Long Termer
w
on his KTM 990 Adventure, with buddy
Paul van de Pol in hasty pursuit on his
Yamaha Ténéré 660, there was nothing
for it but to go with them. On the
gravel the V-Strom on its Karoo Streets
felt secure and there was no issue in
matching the KTM for speed. Only in
the technical sections, especially where
deep holes challenged the Suzuki’s soft
suspension, was it difficult/impossible
to keep up. But any time lost in the
slow stuff was made up on the gravel,
the Suzuki can really fly on this stuff.
Hats off to Michel, though, he was
combining speed and navigation to am
expert level.
Now if there was one standout
challenge to the event it was easily
the camping. Overnight temperatures
dropped to -2ºC (28ºF) and with
my sleeping bag rated to only 0ºC
(optimistically I’d say) I was laying my
Giant Loop bags and Scott Dualraid suit
over the sleeping bag to try and retain
some warmth. The upside was the
camaraderie that went with this as each
morning, together with Michel and
Paul (the flying Dutchmen), Scottish
Steve, Harry Enfield, Mark A-C and even
Jordan Gibbons from MCN, we would
be stamping our feet, sharing coffee
and counting the minutes until the
kitchen opened for breakfast.
AND BACK AGAIN
The return trip was almost brutal.
The 400 miles nearly all on highway/
motorway with conducted with just
120
www.rustsports.com
Suzuki V-Strom 650XT
coffee/piss/fuel stops to break it up.
Again, the Suzuki soaked it up, no issues.
And that kind of sums up what
adventures bikes are about. No vans
needed. Big distances made in comfort
and then a chance to ride in the
wilderness with a minimum of fuss
maximum of fun. And if the going gets
tricky, just slow down. For sure an enduro
bike would whip around such terrain
stood on one wheel at ten times the
speed, but adventure – and events like
the Adventure Spec Challenge – are not
about racing. This is seeing the world,
along the track less travelled. And in this
environment I have to say the Suzuki
V-Strom 650XT shone.
JB’S TOP FIVE OBSERVATIONS
V-STROMMING HACKS
1 I gotta say the Barkbuster hand guards
are just the business. At the Kielder 500
it seemed every second bike wore them.
There’s a reason: the fit and finish is top
class, these are quality items. The Suzuki’s
have never come loose, and you can tell
they’re super-strong. I’ve not crash tested
ours, but they’re equally useful at keeping
the rain and cold at bay! We got ours at
www.rg-gracing.com
2 The Cool Covers seat cover proved
excellent. The fit is impressive, the quality
equally so. And judging by the noticeably
cool waft of air under the JB butt on the
chilly mornings there’s definitely the
benefit of air circulation as well as improved
comfort with this product. For £75 (in the
UK) it’s a budget route to obtaining luxury
comfort. Check them out at
www.coolcovers.co.uk
3 The combination of a tall seat option
from Suzuki and SW Motech Evo footrests
(set in their lowest position) has really
opened out the V-Strom’s cockpit making it
super comfortable for a six-footer without
needing to add handlebar risers. The lower
footrests also allow, I think, a better feel for
what the tyres are doing (as they can do in
trials). Go to www.motohaus.com to find a
UK stockist.
4 Riders get hung up on fitting the gnarliest
adventure tyres. But, except in the wettest
of conditions, mid-knob sized tyres like
Metzeler Karoo Streets and Pirelli Scorpion
Rally STRs can work just as well while
giving better grip and longer life on road.
They can also be less noisy on tarmac too.
A great compromise tyre where you need
your bike for day-to-day road riding as well
as for weekend adventures. Find out more
at www.metzeler.com
5 I miss a centrestand. The V-Strom XT
doesn’t come with one as standard, and
while I know you can fashion a prop stand
that will work with a sidestand for chain
lubing etc, for me, especially when it comes
to loading luggage, nothing beats the
security of the centrestand. Weight penalty
or no, for adventure bikes it’s a damn useful
thing to have.
www.rustsports.com 121
ADVENTURE
ADVENTURE SPEC’D
THE KIELDER 500
The Kielder 500 was a triumph. It allowed 150 riders – about 90% of
them for the first time – to ride their adventure bikes in a true adventure
environment. On gravel across the wild open tracts, on single track through
forest, the Kielder 500 combined adventure bike friendly off-roading with
a road book navigational skills test – a concept that created maximum fun
and satisfaction. And along the way everyone found new friends and new
inspiration. This is, after all, what adventure bikes are for… w
Images: JB & Martin Lynn/Adventure Spec
122
www.rustsports.com
THE KIELDER 500
www.rustsports.com 123
ADVENTURE
w
124
www.rustsports.com
THE KIELDER 500
w
www.rustsports.com 125
ADVENTURE
w
MY KIELDER 500
July Behl (rider 150, RUST contributor)
Rock on Kielder 500! Let’s call a
spade a spade; I’m no GS Trophy
wannabe, I’m a traveller on a
motorbike who loves to venture
off the beaten path, however difficult
it may be. Soak in the experience. Stop
for photographs. Have a wee chat.
Fairly laidback. After riding the length
of the Americas (PanAmScram), I now
want to explore more of our beautiful
country, ride the TET, go off grid, and
whilst Kielder Forest is not necessarily
off grid, it is off-bounds to motorcyclists
except for events like the Kielder 500,
and that is what attracted it to me in
the first place. JB’s covered the details
of the event etc in the rest of the article,
so I’ll just share a few of my personal
highlights with you.
1. BEFORE THE EVENT – I hadn’t ridden my
KTM 1190 Adventure R in ages and so
it was a pleasure making sure the bike
was prepped for the event. Half the fun
is the prep, the build up, the chats with
mates on the phone, route planning,
pit stops, keeping an eye out on social
media for the latest gossip and updates
on the event etc… It was just brill.
2. THE 4:00AM START FROM LONDON TO
KIELDER – not so much!
3. ON THE WAY TO THE EVENT – No matter
how big or small a ride is, let’s admit
it’s great fun riding with mates and it
was great fun sharing the road with
JB again. We took the longer route
to Kielder via the National Parks
126
www.rustsports.com
THE KIELDER 500
and stopped for rather indulgent
meals along the way. I think we had
the equivalent of three full English
breakfasts on the ride up. A bit of
photography, hanging out with the
locals oop North – all of it was just
grand.
4. THE EVENT – Congrats to Burt, Dave
Lomax (of Adventure Spec) and the
team – what a cracking event! The
camaraderie and banter between
strangers was extraordinary. The
buzzing atmosphere at the start of
the event and the stunning route,
with everything from fire roads, to
overgrown grassy bits, ruts, a wee water
crossing, loose gravel, hard packed
gravel, switchbacks – all of this through
the beautiful Kielder forest – what’s not
to like?! The atmosphere at basecamp
was buzzing with energy throughout
the event and there were tired bodies
but happy souls all around. And we
were fed like Vikings – portions the size
of Jersey were on the go. So good food,
cracking company, stunning routes,
beautiful forest, new mates would sum
up Kielder 500 for most participants, if
not all.
5. AFTER – What goes up must come
down? No nob chat here but the
dwindling levels of excitement after
the event. Riding in pissing rain on the
motorway back from Kielder to London,
could’ve been more fun had we not
decided to stick to the motorway due to
time constraints. Nevertheless, I’d rather
be out on my bike with mates than sat
in front of the computer screen.
All in all it was grand and I can’t
wait for the next event at the IoM in
September. There’s one happening in
Wales, but I can’t attend, as that’s been
pre booked as family time.
w
www.rustsports.com 127
ADVENTURE
MY KIELDER 500
Robert Hughes (organizer)
w
The Kielder 500 came about
because we love this kind of
riding, we love big bikes and
because it’s so difficult to find
places to ride them, especially on
something like a 240km course.
Kielder Forest is a fantastic venue
because of the terrain and the tracks,
which are mostly hard pack. It’s not so
suitable for small bikes – enduros – it
would be too fast. We want to keep the
speeds down; it’s about the experience,
the environment and the long distance.
We’ve worked hard on safety. Every
rider gets a tracker so we can see them
on our main organizational screen back
here at the base. That means we have
full visibility of the event. You imagine
setting 150 bikes and riders out into
the wilderness and you don’t know
where they might end up. So we can
track all the bikes on the screen and
just as importantly we have our medics
and mobile marshals on screen. So if
anything goes wrong for a rider we can
talk the medic and marshals through,
we have all their coordinates, so we
have a fast response and in all this is a
much safer way of doing things.
As well the trackers mean we can
measure the navigation exercise, we
can track how far the riders have gone,
can see how fast they’re going – which
meant a few words of caution to a few
who were going too fast – and we
can see when the riders are going off
course. One rider got lost, we could see
he was going round in circles in the
middle of the forest, so we got a marshal
to him and guided him out.
I’m delighted with the event. This is
128
www.rustsports.com
THE KIELDER 500
what we wanted, we wanted big bikes,
everyone in one place making it very
social, we wanted food in the evenings
–everyone having a good fun time.
We’ve built a lot of road book holders
for these events, so everyone can have
a go – you don’t to go out and buy
the equipment. For so many of the
riders, maybe 95%, this was the first
time they’ve done anything like this,
it’s been the first opportunity to ride
their adventure bikes off-road, and
between the riding and the navigation
they’ve loved it. And with our dedicated
Facebook group for the series it’s been
great to read the feedback and the sheer
enthusiasm the events are generating.
w
www.rustsports.com 129
ADVENTURE
w
MY KIELDER 500
Jeremy Morse (rider 77)
This was all new territory for me,
I’ve done the smallest amount
of green lane riding, but that
was years ago, nothing since. So
I turned up literally with a brand new
BMW R1250 GS (JB – yep, it raised a few
eyebrows!) and it was one steep learning
curve, especially at the beginning. But
I loved every minute of it, you can feel
yourself learning the new skills, it’s been
absolutely fabulous, so I’ve signed up
already for the Wales 500!
130
www.rustsports.com
THE KIELDER 500
MY KIELDER 500
Paul van de Pol (Netherlands, rider 115)
I
came here with my good friend
Michel (Langmuur) as actually it’s
not that far for us – a short ride to
the ferry, the ferry across the North
Sea, then a short ride this side, too. We
can’t access riding like this anywhere
near us, the next best possibility is Spain.
And it’s been awesome riding: tough,
challenging, but it’s not a race – and
there’s the roadbook to master – so it’s all
fun. There has been just endless off-road
sections, so it’s been brilliant. We’ll come
back next year for the Wales 500.
w
www.rustsports.com 131
ADVENTURE
THE ADVENTURE
SPEC CHALLENGE
The Facts
It’s a three-round series: Kielder 500,
Wales 500, IoM 500.
Each event is a weekend (two
days), with a total course distance
of around 500km, predominantly offroad
(mostly gravel tracks) but with road
linking sections.
It is a navigational competition. Riders
follow a paper road book and through
an electronic tracker they are marked
on the accuracy with which they follow
the road book. It is not against the clock
and riders are encouraged to ride at
sensible speeds given most of the tracks
are open to the public – excess speed is
recorded and attracts penalty points.
The series is for adventure bikes
(‘road legal bikes’) with a minimum
weight of 140kg. Common sense tells
you that a CRF250L is eligible, being
at the lower end of what an adventure
bike can be, but say a KTM 500EXC is
not – that’s a competition bike (and
yes, Adam Reiman and his Motology
mates might hack around the world at
great speed on their 500EXCs, but that’s
la-la film-making for you, who really
wants to go RTW with oil changes every
15 hours?). Otherwise anything goes,
including modern street scramblers and
supermotos, pretty sure there was an
NC750 somewhere in the mix too.
The trails can be ridden on road tyres
(and many do), but if wet some caution
is required. Proper 50/50 adventure
tyres are probably the call, for a more
carefree ride!
The events are very social with onsite
camping, meals and bar. Here at RUST
we’d like to encourage riders to ride – as
against van/trailer – their bikes to the
event. The trails are not there to destroy
you, there’s no race and, heck, aren’t
adventure bikes specifically designed
for this kind of thing: highway and
byway…
Want to know more?
Go to www.rallymoto.co.uk
132
www.rustsports.com
THE KIELDER 500
www.rustsports.com 133
LONG TERMER
Ahh, another long termer! New to the RUST garage is this KTM 1290
Super Adventure R. Pumped to the max, it’s kind of the last word in
super adventuring. It’s so much bike it’s left JB a little bewildered.
MAXED OUT
Words & Images: JB
I
honestly don’t know what to say. Or where to start. This
KTM confounds me in every dimension. There’s so much to
it. For a start: 160hp. I never had a road racer that powerful.
Am I ready for this much in a tourer come dirt bike? Not
sure. It’s got electronic aids coming out of its ass, so many I
haven’t even begun to comprehend what they’re all doing. And
boy is it tall? 890mm – seems more, I’m on tiptoes everywhere,
and for the first time I’m understanding how shorter people feel,
and think – yeah, you have to judge cambers and make sure the
foot going down is on the upside, eh?
w
134 www.rustsports.com
KTM 1290 SUPER ADVENTURE R
www.rustsports.com 135
LONG TERMER
w
I’m way too simple, binary, for
this, so I’ve elected to stop thinking
and just ride. In fact I’ve already put
over 1200 miles on it, chasing out to
Wales and back (twice), all on road.
It’s a consummate mile muncher,
or shrinker – you arrive everywhere
earlier than you anticipate. It’ll
cruise at any speed between zero
and a zillion and even in top gear
going say 90mph you crack that
throttle and it goes hyperspace. On
the road it doesn’t need gears, just
the one – sixth – is enough. And
despite making speedy transits it
seems to be quite frugal, the onboard
computer says it’s turning around
56mpg. Fuel range says 250 miles
after a fill up, but I’m stopping at
around the 200-mile mark mostly
and putting in around 17-18 litres
into that 23-litre tank, which is about
50mpg so the computer’s probably
about right on all counts.
Comfort is good. The footrests
initially feel high (especially after
the V-Strom XT with its lowered
pegs), but the riding position is long
distance comfortable. KTM suggest
the seat has 3D foam padding which
sounds pretty high-tech but I’ve
found I’ve increased the comfort
even more by throwing a dead sheep
over it (okay, just the skin). Vibrations
are minimal, and certainly don’t
interfere with comfort. Handling
is pretty damn good, too, and I’m
surprised just how much confidence
I’m finding in it despite its height
and the skinny 21”/18” wheel
combination, even on wet roads.
I’ve ridden a 1290 Super Adventure
R off-road before and been
impressed just how good and
manageable it is, those wheel sizes
help I’m sure, while the off-road
rider mode tames the 160 gee gees.
But we’ll be fitting at least some
50/50 adventure tyres, if not more
aggressive ones, before we take this
one off road.
But where we’ll take this bike, fettlewise,
I’m not sure. KTM help/don’t
help by having the most expansive
catalogue of aftermarket parts you
could wish for and we could go
anywhere between hard-core racer
and comfy two-up tourer with this
bike. For now, it’s just so immense
I’m still trying to get my head around
it all. An embarrassment of riches, no
question!
136
www.rustsports.com
KTM 1290 SUPER ADVENTURE R
www.rustsports.com 137
Discover the world with
Bell's adventure helmets
A select range of Bell Helmets is now available through
RUST at www.bell-motorcycle-helmets.co.uk
*RUST subscribers get member discounts
adventure
WHAT COLOUR IS
THE EQUATOR?
July continues his southward journey across the Americas. His
odometer reads not in kilometres, nor miles, instead calories…
Words & Images: July Behl
PANAMSCRAM
THE STORY SO FAR
In 2017 July Behl (Dehli born, Derry
raised) realised a long-held dream, riding
the length of the Americas – Alaska to
Argentina. Although he had a KTM 1190
Adventure in the garage, for this trip he
chose a BMW RnineT Scrambler. With
five months to make the journey, July
was there for the good time; culinaryinquisitive,
socially engaged, this was
not a journey where you measured
miles – more the waistline (growing, not
shrinking). You can read up on his story
so far in RUST issues 27, 29, 35 and 41. We
join him here at the global midpoint that is
the Equator, riding with companion Aussie
Simon on his Triumph Tiger 800…
Who did we think we were?
Royalty? Celebrities? Rocking
up at a South American border
on a Sunday and that, too, at
lunchtime! This was cultural blasphemy at
its hilt. Border crossings are more of an art
than science – a bit like sex, I suppose – one
gets a tiny bit better and more confident after
each crossing or experience (my wife will
vehemently disagree with this statement, on
both counts). The takeaway here is, try and
avoid doing what I did, preferably have more
than ten words of Spanish in your language
ammo reserves, and most importantly no
(I mean know) the difference between two
similar sounding words, e.g. Caliente means
hot and also means… horny! Exactly! So, when
you’re engaging in polite conversation with
a female border official and want to express
‘How hot the day is?’ and instead end up
saying, ‘How horny the day is?’ depending
on your good looks and willingness, either
things will get exponentially expedited
or significantly stressful. Either way,
adventurous! I’ll write a dedicated article on
border crossings for those who want to go
into the intricacies of each one and spare the
rest of you beautiful readers who don’t. w
140
www.rustsports.com
PANAMSCRAM
www.rustsports.com 141
adventure
w
ISIS CALLING…
It was about 3:30 pm by the time the
border formalities were complete at
Rumichaca – the Colombian/Ecuador
border – and there was no way we
were getting to Quito without riding
at night, which neither of us was a
fan of. Anyhow, close to sundown
we decided to ride to Lago San Pablo,
which seemed like a scenic place on the
map for a stopover. Just like everything
else on the PanAmScram, this decision
too was ‘on a wing and a prayer’ – if it
looked good on a map, it must be good.
Whilst I’d put together the whole trip
in less than a couple of weeks, it had
been in the pipeline for a decade and I
wanted to make each day count! So if
it meant riding a little longer or farther,
for a better view, a better meal, better
interaction with the locals etc I wanted
to do it, no matter how knackered I was,
and tired we were.
You see, Tom Tom doesn’t have maps
for Ecuador and we were relying on
142
www.rustsports.com
PANAMSCRAM
I WAS SPORTING A
JAMES HETFIELD/
METALLICA GOATEE,
WHICH IN HINDSIGHT
COULD HAVE BEEN –
GIVEN MY NATURAL
TAN – MISTAKEN FOR
AN ISIS GOATEE
Maps.me (free offline sat nav service
on your phone), which like every
other sat nav service is good but
not perfect. I know there are maps
and compasses, but we all have our
strengths and navigating isn’t one of
mine. Not only did we want to stay
at the scenic lake but also wanted to
find accommodation overlooking it,
which was a bit of a struggle as it was
off peak season and most of the hostels,
campsites and hotels were closed. Our
first attempt at my brilliant suggestion
of just heading towards the lake landed
us in somebody’s backyard. These
poor people were so confused and,
I gathered, a bit frightened that they
peered at us through their windows for
a minute before drawing the curtains
– and what sounded like bolting the
doors. Thinking about it, I was sporting
a James Hetfield/Metallica goatee,
which in hindsight could have been,
given my natural tan(!), mistaken for
an ISIS goatee – I bet the family were
burning up the rosaries that night.
Our second attempt at finding
accommodation took us up a steep
dirt track for miles before ending in a
dead end. The situation had gotten so
pathetic that it was hilarious and I had
tears streaming down my cheeks. A
180-degree turn on a fully loaded bike,
on a steep hill, in the dark, is not a lot
of a fun but hey ho, we were living the
dream. After a few more unsuccessful
rounds, we finally found a hotel but it
was way out of our budget – about $135
USD for two people including breakfast.
We bit the bullet and boy, was it grand
– no condom-infested toilet, cumstain
free linen, hot showers, twin beds,
restaurant and bar onsite. We shone like
new pennies. The next day at checkout
when I questioned the guards why it
was kept open in the off peak season
w
www.rustsports.com 143
adventure
w
despite no business, I was told a lot of
these properties were owned by high
ranking cartel members and it was
another way for them to park their cash
– you learn something new every day.
FINDING FREEDOM
On our way to Quito, we stopped off
at the Equator monument to take
the customary photographs and
soak in the fact that we’d now ridden
half the length of the world – a wee
achievement. In busy Quito, our
first stop was at Freedom Motorcycle
Rentals, a motorcycle rental and tours
company owned by Frenchman
Sylvan and American Court. Upon our
arrival, Sylvan shouted, “Welcome, help
yourselves to stickers, a T-shirt, cold
beers and stay with us!” We couldn’t
have asked for a warmer welcome.
There was also Salina, the Chief Security
Officer, who was a hot bitch. She had
quintessential Latin American looks,
beautiful brown skin, was in her prime
but took her own time warming to
us. After a while she took a shine to
Simon, and why not? He was single and
charming. What goes on tour, stays on
w
144
www.rustsports.com
PANAMSCRAM
www.rustsports.com 145
adventure
w
tour and that’s all I’ll say. Good for you,
Simon.
We needed new tyres, Simon’s starter
motor was being troublesome and I
needed my suspension adjusted – “No
problem, you’re here now and we’ll fix
you and your bikes,” said Sylvan. We
didn’t know Sylvan and Court from
Adam, but in an instant they made us
feel at home. Their spirit of generosity
and hospitality makes one feel proud of
the global motorcycle community. We
didn’t accept their offer to host us, as
it just didn’t feel right, but we did take
them up on fixing the bikes and sorting
the tyres. A word of advice on tyres: buy
them in Colombia, even if you have to
carry them, as they’re way cheaper and
there’s more choice. I didn’t know at the
time but subsequently found out it and
now, having read this you won’t make
the same mistake.
Those of you with vivid imaginations
and envious of Simon and Salina’s
adventures, don’t be, as she was quite
literally a bitch. They just played
together, as you do with a pet. Anticlimax,
indeed! ‘Freedom’ do call her the
Chief Security Officer though.
Over the course of the next few days,
we went on a street food and drinking
spree. We were recharging ourselves for
the second half of the world. We hung
out at local market squares, parks, bars,
with street food vendors, the boys at
‘Freedom’, and it was just brill. Avoid the
restaurants at the main market square
and instead venture out to shacks and
small local restaurants as both the food
and vibe is way better. On the food
scene, one of the things I absolutely
loved and recommend was their giant
corn kernels and pork scratchings
salad/ trail mix/ appetiser – just like Fish
146
www.rustsports.com
PANAMSCRAM
& Chips, Lamb & Mint, Pie & Mash, July
& Fiona, JB & Wolfgang etc this was a
match made in heaven.
On the last day in Quito, there was a
delay in sorting the bikes out, as a result
we ended up staying at Freedom and
were treated to plenty of lager and ribs
by the boys. Thanks again to everyone
at Freedom for all their hospitality and
for fixing the bikes. You must drop in
say hello to them if in Ecuador and
more importantly, rent bikes from them
and go on their tours. From what I’ve
heard they’re fab.
VIA LA BALZA
The Freedom boys suggested a few
routes to Peru, and Sylvan said, “If you
want the easy/main route stay on the
national highways and you’ll arrive at
the big border. However if you want the
adventurous/more challenging route,
go to Vilacamamba via the back roads
and then through the Amazon to the
sleepy border town of La Balza.”
Of course, we chose the latter option
– and it was gold. It took us two days to
ride the 784km through the back roads
to Vilacamamba also known as the
‘Valley of Longevity’ due to the fact that
most people live well over a hundred
years in this village surrounded by the
Amazon mountains on one side and
the beach on the other. The reason
for the high number of centenarians
is credited to the rich biodiversity of
the valley and the fact that the fruits
and vegetables here contain the most
powerful anti-oxidants protection in
the world. Researchers and scientists
travel from far and wide to the valley to
unearth the secrets behind the lifestyle
of the locals. It also draws the eccentric
bohemian types who come to the valley
w
w
www.rustsports.com
147
adventure
w
to ‘find themselves’. The locals have a
motto of ‘living simply so that others
can simply live’ and this is evident in
the shops and spas in the valley selling
wellness products and services, mostly
to American tourists and expats who
were seen and heard everywhere.
And did Simon and I make the most
of our time in the Valley of Longevity?
Were we thriving? Did we feel like we
were going to live to be 100? Us in
harmony with our surroundings? No,
we were explorers, charting our own
paths. Ha! Despite all the antioxidants
and the rich biodiversity, we were laid
up. Arse water!! You read that right. It
was bad – the only thing charting its
own path was the trail of uncontrollable
faeces out of my bottom, and Simon too
was down with a bad case of man flu.
So, to explain: on the last riding
day to the valley we’d started without
breakfast to make up time. As we
were riding in such remote parts it
got to about noon without any food
or water, I was so hungry it felt like I
was digesting my intestines with each
passing mile. Finally we came across
a little settlement with what looked
like a restaurant. Too early for lunch.
They were all closed. Damn you South
American meal times. On the side of
the road, were about three wee BBQ
type shacks prepping to open – but not
open. With my best refugee on a BMW
look, I somehow convinced one owner
to serve and it worked. I think it was
more a case of a plonking ourselves
on her bench staring and salivating
looking at the food like two hungry
Labradors that did the trick. Ribs, beef
kebabs and pork chops were flowing,
but unfortunately she was handling raw
and cooked meat with the same tongs
and that’s what I suspect was the culprit.
The food was gorgeous and plentiful,
and the lady was kind and considerate,
just not clean. I spent the night curled
up in the foetal position, when I wasn’t
in the toilet – which to be fair was the
chunk of the night. I felt fragile, violated
and more like in the valley of death. To
be fair, in the five and a half months that
I spent in the Americas, this was the
only time I was ill, which isn’t bad at all.
Fortunately, in this instance we had
en-suite toilets in our rustic hostel. Just
like every other place, we’d arrived in
Vilacamamba without any bookings.
Sat on the square, just watching the
world go by, I noticed a bohemian bead
bracelet seller and ending up talking to
him and his mate (Emmanuel) about
their life, travels, the beads etc, and as
part of the conversation Emmanuel
said, “Come to the hostel I stay at.
Very nice. Parking for moto. Big party
tomorrow night. Good weed.” He had us
at parking for moto.
148
www.rustsports.com
PANAMSCRAM
Cannabis is another popular product
of Vilacamamba and all the locals
we met along the way to the valley
consistently said two things, “Beautiful
place. Good weed.” Anyhow, at the
hostel the evidence of the cannabis
being “very good” was crystal when
we met ‘Mental Mary’ – as the locals
liked to describe her. Mary was Dutch
by heritage and moved to the valley
about 20 years back to find herself. She
was lovely, rode a 125cc motorcycle,
clearly was not mental but high as a
blimmin’ kite. It was like Groundhog
Day – we had the same conversation
with her three times within an hour.
Short term memory loss was a bit of
theme at our hostel. It was like a ‘wake
and bake’ factory and the residents were
so ‘baked’ that despite being there for
weeks, didn’t remember each other’s
names and instead called them by the
country they originated from – easier to
remember. It was a bit like “Argentina,
come let’s go smoke some weed with
Colombia. Where’s Mexico today?
Britain is still shitting and Australia is
down with flu.”
We didn’t end up going to the big
party which was a restaurant opening
next to our hostel, however we did
manage to spend a few hours at a
local café listening to live instrumental
music with our new hostel friend
Dieter, a Chilean pilot and harmonica
enthusiast in his late 20s. Dieter too was
travelling the world in bite-sized chunks
attending and partaking in various
Blues festivals along the way. The café
was in an idyllic setting, a few miles
from our hostel, nestled between the
mountains, made of straw and mud and
had a wee stage with a fire in front of it.
It was an open mic night and hippies
from all over the world were taking
w
www.rustsports.com 149
adventure
turns singing their native music and playing
various instruments. I’ve been to a plethora of
concerts and music nights, but this by far was
the best – so pure.
TO THE BORDER
After two eventful days in Vilacamamba, we
bid farewell to our new friends and made our
way to the border via the Amazon. We took a
combination of the Route 682 and backroads
and rode at elevation of close to 3200 metres
in places. This ride had everything from
long stretches of dirt roads, water crossings,
jungles, broken tarmac, some good tarmac,
clay, mud, mountain passes, certainly was
one of the riding highlights in Ecuador,
and we would’ve missed all of this had the
Freedom boys not told us about it. One did
have to be careful on long stretches of the dirt
track, as a slight distraction or loss of control
of the bike would’ve ended up going down
the sheer drop that caressed the narrow dirt
track. It was remote and it was lush. Also,
except for one motorcycle, jeep and a minibus
we didn’t see anyone else the whole day. I
would go back in a heartbeat to ride this route.
We got to the La Balza border at about
4pm and unlike other borders on the
PanAmScram, this was a shack. When we
arrived the only border guard present was
sleeping and had to be woken up. You could
tell he wasn’t used to people turning up and
confessed that hardly anyone ever used this
border. As we were the only ones to deal with
we were done within half an hour and then
he unlocked and lifted the barrier to let us
through to a bridge/no man’s land between
Ecuador and Peru. This last day in Ecuador
was the prefect farewell to this amazing
country. Despite all the sickness and silliness,
the people and country looked after us very
well. More to be ridden in Ecuador in the near
future.
BOY WAS IT GRAND:
NO CONDOM-INFESTED
TOILET, STAIN-FREE
LINEN, HOT SHOWERS,
TWIN BEDS, RESTAURANT
AND BAR ONSITE
NEXT TIME
Peru. This is a story being told in real time. In
fact the story is taking longer than the journey
itself. July – will you put down those sticky ribs
and get on with it?!
150
www.rustsports.com
PANAMSCRAM
www.rustsports.com 151
heritage
California
Words & Images: JB
cruisin’
RUST’s US trip wasn’t all off-road roosting. When we got to the West Coast we couldn’t help ourselves
but to indulge in a local passion – cruisin’. A trip from LA down to San Diego on Brit and American
iron proved a great interlude while the dirt gear got cleaned up at the Laundromat…
152 www.rustsports.com
USA
w
www.rustsports.com
153
heritage
w
1
2
154
www.rustsports.com
USA
1. INDIAN LOVE AFFAIR
Warren took one look at the
Indian and claimed it. If he
was going to live a dream
of Cali’ cruisin’ it had to be
on American iron and he
just soaked in the style and
design cues of this new
classic. And of course he
took full advantage of relaxed
local laws (or was it absence
of cops?) to go, er, ‘native’.
2. ME TOO!
JB wasn’t impervious to
the attractions of a little
freeriding, either. There is
something magical about
riding with the wind in your
hair (while you’ve still got it).
The trick of course is to not
look like you’re enjoying it
too much…
3. SUNSET BOULEVARD
Actually this was Laguna
Beach, but when you see a
Cali sunset you stop quick
and take it all in – it really is
quite special. Of course you
have to shoot as well as look
– so JB got Warren to push
the Scout Bobber onto the
boardwalk.
3
w
www.rustsports.com 155
heritage
4. SUN SOAK
This shot is as it came out
of the camera, no fancy
Photoshop tricks. We had to
pinch ourselves, it was so
pitch perfect.
156 www.rustsports.com
USA
w
www.rustsports.com
157
heritage
w
5. STAR SPANGLED
It was just there, a windripped
red white and blue, we
couldn’t resist composing at
least one image like this…
6. BLACK LIGHT
The Indian looked incredible
in the light of dusk, just
amazing. If you’d just bought
the bike and parked it there
you’d be 100% convinced
you’d made the perfect
choice. Visually stunning
machine.
7. NIGHT LIFE
Warren was the cat that
got the cream (no birds
– married man and all). Forget
health and safety for just
ten minutes, in that climate,
that environment this was
motorcycle nirvana – even for
a confirmed dirtbike guy.
5
8. FORECOURT
The Speedmaster
arrived the next
morning, along with
wall-to-wall sunshine.
Such a different take on
cruising to the Scout
Bobber it took a while
to adjust our mindsets.
But very quickly we
started taking second
looks, started picking
up on the details – and
the sheer shine of the
Triumph.
6
158
www.rustsports.com
USA
7
8
w
www.rustsports.com 159
heritage
w
160
www.rustsports.com
USA
9. PALM
Heading into downtown San Diego we
passed this beach. Too nice to just ride
past, so we stopped and hung around.
Then we actually managed to lose each
other when riding out – we still don’t know
how. But it didn’t matter, just another
excuse to ride up and down the strip…
w
www.rustsports.com 161
heritage
w
10. OLD TOWN
Old town San Diego is
enchanting. Low rise,
and these avenues of
weatherboard bungalows
with just walkways
between their front
gardens make for a special
atmosphere. And all just a
few paces from the beach.
And the culture was 100%
Bohemian, artsy, foodie –
kind of hipster in a sunkissed
beach-bum style.
Being utterly uncool Brit
and Saffie old boys we
can’t say we fitted right in,
but we certainly loved the
style and the fish tacos at
Single Fin just added to the
experience. Sublime.
162
www.rustsports.com
USA
w
www.rustsports.com 163
heritage
w
11
11. STREET SCENE
We could have walked the
neighbourhood, but riding it
was more fun – honestly what
is more fun than riding bikes,
any bikes? Warren’s been into
riding with rolled-up sleeves
ever since JB showed him
how French enduro aces
always ride like this, even
in the depths of winter. See,
even us old guys want to be
cool.
12
12. HIT THE BUTTON
Warren eventually
condescended to riding the
Triumph. He made a play
of finding the starter, the
controls and all, but after a
while – secretly – he kind
of liked, or at least respected
the Speedmaster. It’s just
something he won’t admit in
public.
164
www.rustsports.com
USA
13
14
13. U-TURN
Using the pedestrian crossing as a
U-turn opportunity confused the
hell out of the locals – both in their
automobiles and on foot (in San Diego
they actually walk places, not just to
their cars) – but you tell us: did Warren
(a) turn on his Saffie charm or (b) just
ignore them?
14. BELL
The Bell Moto 3 is a sore subject in the
RUST office. This was JB’s pick for the
job, but when Warren fell out of love
with his original pick of helmet after
one day he collared JB’s pick instead. In
the off-road variant (check for the plain
colours and toweling – not leather –
lining) the Moto 3 is one lovely lid.
w
www.rustsports.com 165
heritage
w
15. PLUM
You can tell quality paintwork by the way it works
so completely in every different light. In the San
Diego twilight the Speedmaster’s red tank turned a
warm plum colour, while the chrome tank badge
and cap set off a contrasting deep reflective gleam.
Meanwhile the simplicity of the instruments and
comfortable sweep of the ‘beach bars’ (Triumph’s
name for the handlebars) just set the scene for a
comfortable evening cruise.
166
www.rustsports.com
USA
INDIAN SCOUT BOBBER
This is a work of art. You
need time to take it all in,
then you need to ride it,
and then to look again.
You need to do both to
appreciate all the details
as the visual and the
kinetic interlink.
The motor – you can
see this visually too – is
very modern. It reminds
me of when Harley-
Davidson launched
their V-Rod. That was a
cruiser with what felt like
a superbike motor. The
Scout Bobber is a bit like
that, only not so muscular
(it doesn’t have the cubic
capacity) but certainly
it’s a modern engine and
100hp is actually pretty
fair for an 1100cc veetwin,
but expect linear
power and torque curves.
So you don’t ride it off
the bottom so much as
let it rip. It still makes a
deep basso rumble, but
with a higher pitch mixed
in. It is smooth, though,
and slick. The standard
pipes obviously answer
to the authorities – with
something less restrictive
it would be interesting to
see how it would perform
and sound.
Warren loved the Scout
Bobber and chose to ride
it over the Speedmaster.
That’s based on looks as
much as anything. The
Indian guys have put so
much effort into bringing
together a design that
works on a 360º basis;
everything links, every
part has interconnectivity
with the next, it is one
cohesive design. The
detailing is exquisite
for a mass production
machine.
The Scout Bobber
lives for an urban life.
It’s a bit of a pose, for
sure, but there’s enough
genuine design and
engineering to pull it off,
it’s not embarrassing and
the looks it attracts are
admiring and inquisitive.
And you need to keep
it in town, because for
real road trips that riding
position and that short
travel suspension make
for a compromised
ride. I wouldn’t call it
outright uncomfortable
but I certainly wouldn’t
consider it for touring.
Maybe for smaller, lighter
people it works better.
But in town it certainly
works, you sit relaxed
yet in command so you
can give it a quick spurt
to clear the traffic when
you need, or you can just
gently thrum along, and
it has a modern set of
controls and engine and
chassis responses to keep
you safe if others aren’t so
alert.
In downtown San Diego
it was fully within its
environment. It has that
same intoxicating mix of
modernity and historical
background. It has its
own identity for sure…
www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/scout-bobber/
w
www.rustsports.com 167
heritage
w
168
www.rustsports.com
USA
16. SUNSET 2
Another killer sunset, this time
we’ve set one of the beach
lifeguards’ lookout posts against
it. There’s something a bit
robotic in the design, don’t you
think – maybe George Lucas had
a hand in their design.
w
www.rustsports.com 169
heritage
w
TRIUMPH SPEEDMASTER
You expect the arrival of The Fonz
at any moment: heeeeyyy! The
Speedmaster is all Fifties Americana.
Okay, it’s British, but Fonzie rode a
Triumph too, after all Triumph were
Stateside and kings of the street
scene back in the Fifties (and even
had their moment in the AMA Flat
Track sun in the late Sixties).
Like the Indian guys, you get the
idea the design and engineering
team put a lot into their cruiser. The
Scout Bobber is thoroughly modern
take, but the Speedmaster is a proper
historical reenactment, only with
modern design and technology
mixed in. The 1200cc motor makes
only 76hp – down on the Scout
Bobber – but it punches so hard off
the bottom you’d never know it was
the less powerful. It really rocks this
power unit, it’s a joyful lusty beast
– that 270º crank angle helps – so
that you just can’t stop playing with
it, cracking that throttle repeatedly,
traffic light to traffic light is a threebraaap
(first-second-third) stanza.
The candy red tank is a keynote in
kitsch, yet this is a design that is so
faithful to its Fifties origins that to
call it a pastiche would be wrong, it’s
too well executed for that. While not
being an immediate European taste,
after you’ve ridden it for a while
– especially if that ride is a cruise
down to San Diego – then you start
understanding and liking its style.
And like the Scout Bobber, it rewards
you with every visual investigation.
It’s a superb design job.
It does then have the look, the
rumble and the presence. Leave
me with this bike for too long and
I swear I’ll be wearing turn-up
jeans, check shirt and unzipped
leather jacket before too long (and
of course the open-face helmet). I’m
Bonneville British all the way, but
given the right environment – west
coast US or south coast France
– I’d be giving the Speedmaster
serious consideration. Yes, this Brit
thoroughly exudes Cali laid back
cool.
www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/motorcycles/classic/bonneville-speedmaster
170
www.rustsports.com
USA
17. AND GOODNIGHT
We’ll choose this as the closing
shot of the San Diego cruise. At this
moment life was perfect. We’ll not
speak of the surprisingly cold, long
and borderline uncomfortable ride
back to Newport Beach, some of it
on a super-busy freeway. No, we’ll
not mention that nightmare, just
remember that dream day…
THANKS
To Tom Robinson, Phil Read Jnr and
Lance Jones at Triumph for sorting us
the Speedmaster. And to Luke Plummer,
Haley Holston and TJ Jackson at Indian
for sorting the Scout Bobber. To Bell
Helmets USA for the cool lids and to
Richa (Nevis Marketing in the UK) for the
gloves and jackets.
www.rustsports.com 171
C ntacts
RUST SPORTS LTD
www.rustsports.com
Warwick House
The Grange
St. Peter Port
Guernsey
GY1 2PY
Editor: Jonathan Bentman
editor@rustsports.com
Designer: Rich Page
Managing Director: Warren Malschinger
Contributors: Alan Stillwell (USA), Chris Evans (UK/FR),
Pedro Matos (PT), July Behl (UK), Craig Keyworth (UK)
Thanks to - Thanks to: (long-long list this issue) the
wonderful bods at KTM UK, Simon Roots and Sarah
Dryhurst (& Brad Woodroofe) for the 790 Adventure
R test ride, also to Moly, Pat and his crew for the
quality riding at Sweet Lamb, also thanks to Sarah
for the 1290 Super Adventure R and to Alan in the
workshop for turning around the 600 mile service in
double quick time; to Iain Baker at Honda UK for the
screaming wonder that is the Honda CRF250RX, to
Holeshot PR for speedily arranging Metzeler tyres
for it (no thanks to courier for the botched delivery…)
and to Wynn Connell at Acerbis UK for the plastics
kit; to Tom Robinson at Triumph and Dean Harfield
at Performance Communications for arranging and
delivering the fruity Triumph Scrambler 1200XE for
testing; to Serena Lillingston-Price at Yamaha UK and
Dylan Jones at Yamaha Off-Road Experience for the
smoothest WR450F test; to Dean Clements at Clements
Moto for the fantastic Fantic Caballero 500; To Dylan
Williams and his terrific team at the Dyfed Dirt Bike
Club; Robert Hughes and his team at Rally Moto UK
and to Dave Lomax and Greg Villalobos at Adventure
Spec for the Kielder 500 entry and support; to John and
Adam Mitchinson at Rally Raid Products for the BMW
G310 GS RRP test; to James Sharpe and Luke Plummer
at Motocom for the continued Suzuki V-Strom 650XT
presence. And to anyone left off, apologies, all help is
always gratefully received!
Copyright: RUST Sports Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of any part of RUST is prohibited without
the express permission of RUST Sports Ltd.
www.rustsports.com
@Rust_Sports
/RustSports
/rustsports
Change language